Elizabeth's Horse Camp

My oldest, 9 year old Elizabeth, has always loved horses.  She even chose to have a horse-themed birthday party when she turned six years old.  

Despite her love for horses, she has never actually ridden a full-size horse.  Well, this summer Adam and I decided she was old enough to handle the responsibility and danger associated with this sport so we signed her up for a week long horse camp at our local equestrian center.  Her Granny and Aunt Erica hooked her up with some sweet cowgirl boots and trendy new bedazzled t-shirt.

As we drove to camp on the first morning I asked if she was nervous. 

"No, I'm not nervous at all.  But I am imagining that it is going to be a small place with one little horse that we all have to share.  That way I won't be disappointed."

  

Who does that? Sets their expectations low so they won't be disappointed.  (Her dad! Her dad! Her dad!)

It's so funny to me because I cannot relate to that life strategy.  I tend to expect great things and then sometimes I am disappointed. But Elizabeth and Adam both share this strategy of setting their expectations low so they can instead be pleasantly surprised.

Well pleasantly surprised she was!!!!

We pulled up to a huge barn with 32 horses!!!  Each girl got their own horse to care for and ride. 

When I picked her up after Day #1 I learned that they not only rode their horse by themselves but they also went on a 3 mile trail ride and even started trotting.  Day #1!?!?!?  She was so excited!!!  Even someone like me with high expectations would have been happy with this day. 

Day 2-4 continued to improve as she learned how to post (going up and down in the saddle), trot, gallop and jump!

On Day #5 all the parents were invited to the horse show where the girls were able to present their horses in the ring while riding for us and performing their skills.

Elizabeth did a great job!!She certainly enjoyed the week and is already looking forward to the next time she gets to hop in the saddle.  

Living for His Glory

This past week has been...miraculous, scary, overwhelming, joyous, luxurious, difficult, and wonderful!


When I entered the college cafeteria in 1996 to share a vial of my blood with the National Bone Marrow Registry, I never would have dreamed that I would get a call on Christmas Eve 2010 that I am a match for a 64 year old man with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. It was exciting to know I might be able to help save another person's life.


Over the next 6 months I had some blood work and some medical testing to further confirm our match and then a transplant date was set, and postponed,and set and postponed again.  I know God's timing is perfect and I trusted that these delays were part of His plan.  Yet, I also worried that my recipient was getting sicker and this transplant might never happen.  Not so!


Last Sunday, July 3rd I received my first figlastrim injection to help increase my body's production of peripheral stem cells (bone marrow producing cells). These shots are to be given for five days prior to the donation.  The first night I experienced some mild bone pain, nothing too notable.


The next day I experienced some nausea and an intense headache.  My collection was scheduled to take place at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL and I had intended to drive myself and my kids there on Day #2.  It is a 6 hour drive from Atlanta.  With these new symptoms and my anxiety regarding making the drive alone, my sweet husband decided to drive us down and then rent a car and drive back home.  This was his 4th of July holiday and he drove 12 hours to get us safely to Jacksonville!  There have been many times in our marriage when I have felt exceedingly blessed to have Adam as my husband and this day certainly ranked high among those times.  He takes such good care of me! I love him so much!


I continued with the shots each day and the symptoms certainly got worse (as they should).  I felt achey...kind of like the flu except instead of having muscle aches it was more in the bones.  The headache lingered with the decreased appetite and nausea.


The 4th night was a rough one and I was thankful to have my mother-in-law keeping me company in the hotel next to Mayo.  I experienced these "gripper" pains in my sternum and pelvis.  They never lasted more than 10 seconds but it was like someone was grabbing and squeezing my bones.  I had to hold on to the wall and take a deep breath until in past.  So strange! I also drenched my clothes with night sweats.  I think my body was just really confused.

Looking a little loopy...not one of my finer photos!

 On day 5, I reported to the Apheresis unit at Mayo Clinic to be hooked up for a 5 hour collection.  They put a needle in one arm to pull out my blood and then it ran through an apheresis machine to collect the peripheral stem cells and then another tube returned my blood back into my other arm.  They gave me some ativan to relax my veins. It worked okay for about an hour, but my veins are not large and they were "vibrating" quite a bit.  I couldn't feel it but the machine kept alarming and the nurses kept talking about a central line. Yup! After an hour of collection they took out the IVs and sent me down to radiology for a central line placement.


They got me back on the machine with the blood flowing well from my jugular vein...4 hours.  I felt kinda weird...probably a combination of the ativan, the effects of the shots, the blood being pulled from my body and returned or the calcium deficiency.  A new symptom.  They told me that I might feel some tingling in my fingertips and lips from the calcium that was being taken through this process.  Apparently, the calcium drip that they were supplementing me with in the IV was not quite enough because about 4 hours into the donation my thumbs started curling into my palms, my fingers curved around them, my wrist curled up and my forearm pulled up and toward my body.  I couldn't control these strange contractions.  If someone uncoiled my hand it would just curl back up as soon as it was released.  It wasn't painful but it was very strange.  Needless to say, they increased my IV calcium.


The transplant center requested 7 million cells from me and I was able to produce 6 million on day one.  Yea!  Because of the central line I had to be admitted to the hospital to spend the night.  My hand contractions diminished to numbness and tingling and then finally went away around 2 am.  My sweet nurse changed my sheets around 3 am due to another bout with night sweats.  I changed my PJs three times!!!  Thanks mom and dad for bringing me several options!! (My mom and dad ended up spending the night in my hotel room next to Mayo so they could be close by for Day 2 collection.)


Day 2 collection started about 7:30am and was much easier than day one due to the fancy contraption coming out of my neck.   The nurses hooked me up and hung extra calcium and I was good to go.  I ended up collecting a total of 9.18 million cells for my match.  YIPEE!


I was able to write an anonymous note to my recipient.  This is what I wrote:

Dear Stem Cell Sharer,

I received a call on Christmas Eve that I am a match with you and since then you and your family have been in my prayers.  I am so thankful I have been given the opportunity to share this special gift with you. 

I have been a stay-at-home mom for the past 10 years raising my daughter (10) and son (8).  It is the best job in the world!  I also volunteer full time for a non-profit that serves families with young children who have a parent with a life-threatening illness.  I love serving these families but I always wish I could give them more time with their loved ones or take away their illness.

Being a match for you is an answer to prayer for me! I am praying these cells will give you much more time with the ones you love and take away your illness. 

It has been a joy serving you through this donation.  Throughout this entire process I have recognized that my body is not my own, but it belongs to God.  He has brought us together in this medical miracle for which I am so grateful.  So many people are praying for you!

I wish you health and strength and peace and joy.  God bless you!

Love,

Your Donor

I was given a sterling silver heart charm as an appreciation for my donation.  I will wear it to remember this man and his family.  Through this process, however, I was given far more than a charm.  God gave me an amazing gift to share my life with someone.  It was an honor and a privilege and I would do it again tomorrow if it was required.  

At church last Sunday, right before I received my first shot, I was feeling a little anxious about the week ahead of me.  I kept reminding myself that my body is not my own and that it belongs to God and that He has called me to this purpose for this donation. During worship I was really hoping we would sing the song "Glory to God Forever" by Fee that says "Take my life and let it be, all for you and for your glory. Take my life and let it be yours."  That was the message that I wanted to cling to during this entire process.  That song always makes me raise my hands and really surrender my life to God.  

Well...we sang the first three songs but no "Glory to God Forever"...bummer!  Then after the sermon we usually sing 2 more songs...I was hopeful. We sung two but not "Glory to God Forever".

But...then...wait...we sang a third song!!!  

Do we usually sing three?  

I am pretty sure we only sing two songs as the end.  

Anyway, it WASN'T  "Glory to God Forever" but it was "Living for Your Glory" by Tim Hughes:

"Take my life let it be everything, all of me.  Here I am use me for your glory.  In everything I say and do, let me life honor you.  Here I am living for your glory."

Amen.  Thank you God for the gift of this song and for the peace that it brought me this week.  These words truly encompass the entire reason for my participation in this transplant, and my work with Inheritance of Hope and my daily life as Jill Thompson.  It is my heart's desire to live for His glory.  

Thanks for loving me and supporting me through this journey.  I am back home safely and feeling well and recovered. Please continue to pray for my stem cell sharer and his family.  I will be receiving updates on his health and status and he can write to me if he wants to later on.  I will keep you all posted as I hear new information.  

Here are a few photos of the process.  If you are at all quesy with medical equipment please do not scroll down to the last photo.  I am SO thankful I did not know what a central line catheter looked like before it was removed from my jugular vein.  I had no idea it was so large and long.  OK....so the last picture is that one.  Viewer discretion is advised. 

One last note before the photos...Many of you have been asking about how you can join the bone marrow registry.  It is very easy now.  All you have to do it is visit BeTheMatch.org and click on "Join the Registry".  They will send you a kit in the mail and you will swab the inside of your cheek and mail it back.  That's it!  It is pretty statistically rare to ever be a match for someone but certainly the more people in the database the better the chances to save more lives.  I encourage you to do it!

Living for His glory,

Jill

The OR tech was kind enough to take this shot for me before bandaging my line.

Probably one of my lower moments. 

Day one is done, I'm tired and both arms are tingling.

Day two...everything is flowing well. Central line is removed below. No wonder I felt so weird. Bleh!