The Cheekswab Blog
Announcing Dennis’ Donation Story and Cheekswab on YouTube
9 Apr 2012 | No Comments | posted by cheekswab | in Blog
For the past several months I've been working on a new section of the site entitled Donation Stories. The purpose of this section is to chronicle the stories of people who have donated marrow in an honest and personal way. I've done my best to provide comprehensive information about bone marrow donation on this site -- the methods, the logistics and time commitment, and addressing some common questions -- but something was missing.
Since I'm unable to personally join the registry for medical reasons, I'll never know what it's like mentally and emotionally to go through the process of donating marrow. I can write about the parameters of the time commitment but I don't know what it's actually like to sacrifice the time for checkups and blood tests. Up until now, the emotional and mental perspective is what this site has lacked. The Donation Stories section hopes to address that need.
I've written about Dennis previously in this blog and the fact that he was asked to donate to an anonymous patient in early December. What you didn't know Read more..
Andrew Park Finds Donor, Timothy Song 40+ Days Past Transplant!
26 Mar 2012 | No Comments | posted by cheekswab | in Blog
Andrew Park and his Dad
Andrew Park finds a bone marrow donor!
Andrew Park, the 17 year old boy from Illinois who ODPC honored with a bone marrow drive last month, is now in remission and has found a bone marrow donor in the registry!
From his father's blog:
Dr. Sonali started by saying since his chromosome 7 and 8 have diffused and with Andrew being in remission, his chances of survival just got much better and he is in IDEAL shape to go into transplant. Read more..
Dennis, Part 2
12 Dec 2011 | No Comments | posted by cheekswab | in Blog
Dennis’ procedure went well. The procedure itself took an hour and a half or so, and he’s been recovering since. He told the nurse he didn’t need pain meds today, so it sounds as if things are okay. Hopefully he won’t need them tomorrow, but I expect he’ll be very sore for the next couple days.
It's some sort of amazing serendipity that one of my close friends' fiances gets called to donate. I grew up with Dennis' fiance (Melissa) and have known her since early elementary school. Funny anecdote: when he told Melissa that he got the call to donate, her response was, "So you're going to do it, right?"
They're a badass couple.
I’m really in awe of what he’s done.