I still can’t believe that the transplant was successful. It blows my mind that we beat the odds. It’s common when people hear about the transplant and how I donated my sister the stem cells they say things like, “wow that’s so nice of you.” Or “you’re so brave for doing that.” Even “I don’t know if I could have done it.” Most of the time I don’t really know what to say to people or how to respond. I admit I’m not the best at being the center of attention and at times the praise that people have given me has made me uncomfortable. It’s so hard for me to view the situation like there was a choice to be made. My sister fought for her life for days and days. She battled cancer. She battled death. She was the one who suffered and sacrificed. I was given a rare opportunity that countless people would have begged for. I had a chance to keep her alive. There was no choice. It was done the second I found out about the match. I would do it 100 more times if it meant keeping my family whole for one more day.
The thing about tragedy is that it brings out the best in people. It brought out an inner strength and resiliency in my sister, her husband and my parents that I had never seen before. That I didn’t know existed. We had people show us so much love and kindness. It was remarkable.
I don’t know why my sister got sick. I don’t know why I was a perfect match or even why the transplant worked. I don’t know what the future will bring for us, what I do know is that I am grateful everyday that she is here with us. I feel blessed that we somehow got to keep her.