The Christmas Gift

On December 24 of last year, Kim took one last glance at her laptop before shutting down for the holiday. An incoming e-mail caught her eye and she asked me to look at it. It seemed like a suspicious African-prince-needs-your-help kind of message. We both looked at it and read it several times with a hesitating finger over the delete key… 

___________________________________________________________

From: xxxx, xxx


Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2013 11:45 AM


To: Kim


Subject: Reminder Letter

Dear Kimberly,

Thank you again for registering as a bone marrow donor on 06/03/2009 at “Help save Marshall and others at Cerner Corporation!”  We recently contacted you because you are a potentially life-saving match for a patient with leukemia in need of a transplant.

Please call me at 212.209.xxxx so I can explain what this means and answer your questions.

If you'd like us to call you, or you think that your contact information has changed, please let us know the best way and time to reach you by visitinghttp://www.xxx.

It’s critically important that we hear from you, even if you’re not sure you are able to donate.  I am available Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Eastern Time.

On the patient’s behalf, we deeply thank you. Your timely response is very much appreciated.

Best regards,

xxx xxxxx

Confirmatory Typing Coordinator

_________________________________________________________

Kim was not certain whether pressing the delete key would delete an e-mail - or delete a life - so she decided to follow up with caution.

It turned out that the message was authentic, and a 48-year-old woman with Leukemia urgently needed a Bone Marrow Transplant.  We don't know who she is or where she lives - but we were given some hints that she probably lives in Germany or Ireland and has a distant genetic relationship to Kim.

The next few months found us trekking across the country a couple of times. Caught in the Washington DC blizzard of the century at Georgetown Medical Center during the first trip.

On our second trip to Georgetown - a surgeon knocked Kim out, drilled two holes, and sucked a liter of Bone Marrow from her hips.

I could probably regale a little with the details of the trips, the tense aftermath of a ski fall, the BMT surgery, and the recovery - but in some cases less is more and maybe I don't need to add much to this story other than to share the message that Kim received this month…

_______________________________________________________ 

From: xxxx, xxxx


Sent: Friday, September 12, 2014 7:24 AM


To: Kim


Subject: Patient Update

Hi Kimberly,

I hope you are well! I wanted to let you know that I received another update on your patient. The information we receive is very general and does not give specifics but it does say that:

1.            The patient is recovering well, is proceeding as expected, and has no serious complications.

2.            The patient has been somewhat able to return to pre-transplant activities.

This is great news!  I hope it is comforting for you to hear that all of your effort has helped this patient regain her health. 

When I contact you for your one year follow up I hope to have another update on your patient.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at the number provided below.

Thank you for everything you have done. We truly believe that donors are special people.

Warm Regards,

xxx xxxx