Kelly the Culinarian: 3-Month Post Bone Marrow Donation Update

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

3-Month Post Bone Marrow Donation Update

Tomorrow marks three months since I went under the knife to donate bone marrow. The short summary: I feel the same as I ever did. My uncle feels the best he has since he was diagnosed with cancer. In fact, he's at home with his kids, resuming his life.

"Thank you for saving my daddy"
And that is the tale I want people to know about donating bone marrow. I'm going about living my life as always while making it possible for another person to do the same.

The nitty gritty: I have a few small scars that haven't faded quite yet. They look like acne scars but you can still feel a knot of tissue underneath where the incision and extraction took place. They don't impact me at all. Even in a bikini, only one of the seven incisions is visible. I feel no pain, soreness or aching, my endurance is the same was and my energy levels are great.
Still got it

Looking back, I would say it was two weeks after the procedure before I felt well, and probably four weeks before I was back to baseline me. My Ironman training is well underway with zero ill effect from having 1.5 Liters of my very essence removed.

What's insane to me is how quickly it made a difference for the recipient. Three months isn't long at all; just ask any kid on summer break. It's 1/3 of a pregnancy, a single season on the calendar or three house payments. You can train for an entire marathon in three months. And yet, my uncle has gone from living within two miles of the hospital with daily visits and constant tests and procedures to being back at home with his twins and contemplating returning to work.

I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Only one in 540 people on the bone marrow registry ever donates, but those who do literally cure cancer in the process. I've been on the registry for 10 years, and sign up was easy. You can start the process online here. You never know whose life you may save.

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