Surviving Cancer

I have put off writing about this for a little while. I think it’s because I wanted to just live in the moment and gobble up everything about the situation, and just LIVE in it a little while longer on my own. I’m sure you are all wondering what I am talking about. It was November 14th and I received an email from the donor registry. It was a form I could fill out with any personal information about myself that I was ok with them sharing with my bone marrow transplant donor. I think when I read the email, my jaw hit the floor. I was surprised and overjoyed to be starting the process of knowing who my donor was. The person that literally saved my life.

I filled out the form which ended up including every piece of information about me. It was just basic contact information like my name, address, phone number and email address. I sent it back immediately really not knowing when or if I would hear more. To be honest, I kind of forgot about the form. Thanksgiving was right around the corner and it was just a busy time. The day after Thanksgiving, however, I received the best gift of all. I got a Facebook friend request while I was wandering around the grocery story here in town, trying to figure out what kind of pie I was going to make for my family’s thanksgiving the next day. I am pretty talented at procrastinating.

I checked who the friend request was from, it was someone from a different country. My first thought was “um, no thanks.” I was close to declining the request, but I soon got another notification. This time from Facebook messenger. It read:

“Hey, I’m Julian and I’m from Germany. I got your number and name from DKMS. I honestly don’t know how best to start the conversation but I will try my best. I was contacted by DKMS for the first time in 2021 and they asked me for help. For me, my decision was clear from the start: I wanted to help my genetic twin! I feared for your life until a few days ago, because I hadn’t received any information about your health status until then. Not a day has done by since 2021 that I haven’t thought about you and prayed for you. When I got your name a few days ago, I immediately had to search for you on Facebook. The very first profile was yours! I wasn’t sure at first, but when I saw your health updates and the 2021 and 2022 cell donations, there were no more doubts. It was such an overwhelming feeling that I immediately cried. I finally knew that you had made it! You were so strong, I have no more respect for anyone that for you! I would be very happy if we could get to know each other. Of course first of all by writing, unfortunately you don’t exactly live in the neighborhood. Greetings from Germany!”

Reading this in the grocery store, I immediately started tearing up. I felt elated. I lost my train of thought. I did not end up buying any ingredients for the pie I was supposed to make. Instead, I dropped everything and left the store. I drove home so I could focus all my attention on replying. It’s an odd sort of feeling “meeting” the person who saved your life, and by meeting, I mean through messages. We have since continued to write to each other almost daily. We are getting to know one another through messaging until we can finally meet in person.

I wish it was as simple as hopping on an airplane. Both Julian and I feel this overwhelming feeling to connect with one another. Learning about this person is a feeling I can only try to describe. They are on the other side of the world and selflessly donated the life-saving bone marrow that saved my life. Traveling to Germany from the US and vice versa, isn’t exactly cheap. I want more than anything, to just hop on a plane, but the financial aspect is holding me back. Until you have lived it, no one could ever know how special the connection is between us. We will eventually get to meet in person and embrace each other for the first time, even though we have technically been a part of each others lives for the past 4 years.

Obviously, there is LOADS more to mention about Julian and our plans to remain a part of each other’s lives. Julian is my brother from another mother, my genetic twin, and above all, my LIFE SAVER<3.