The Cheekswab Blog
A Recap of April
2 May 2012 | No Comments | posted by cheekswab | in Blog
So the updates to this site became significantly more sparse during the month of April. That was a result of a few factors:
- I didn't host any drives in April, so there weren't many drive announcements or recaps to highlight.
- I spent a couple weeks developing the Donation Stories section, which Dennis was so gracious in lending his story to. True story: Dennis was at the hospital a couple weeks ago to donate white blood cells (does his generosity ever stop?) and he was randomly fist-bumped in the hall by a girl who had seen his bone marrow donation video! She was there herself to donate marrow, and said the video really helped her out.
- I was pretty burnt out from the end of last month, where I helped coordinate four drives in two weeks (including three in the last week). At times I'm still trying to find a balance between work, Cheekswab, and being 26.
But here we are in May, and it's been four and a half months since launch, and things are still going strong. While I can't promise a constant stream of updates into the future, Read more..
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..
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.