awful – a rare, hybrid form that is extremely difficult to beat. After a pair of weekends of chemo and 41 days in the hospital recovering, Jenn finally came home to her beloved Kitty on April 29th still unsure of her future.
One day I might write a book about those 41 agonizing days where every night I left the hospital and came home without my wife and not really knowing if she was ever coming home. Every single night was awful.
Despite her neutrophils not coming back quickly – and to the apparent amazement of many leukemia doctors – on Saturday, May 10th the head of department slipped into her outpatient suite and declared her officially in remission. It was truly a miracle – a moment we’ll never forget. He told us that her recovery was so slow because they essentially gave her some nuclear form of chemotherapy that was aggressive in every way because they didn’t want to have to resort to multiple rounds.
We had been told early in the process that once we achieved remission, we’d still need a bone marrow donor and that the worldwide registry had been already put on alert for her DNA match. We were led to believe that three matches existed but as you can imagine the incredible process of matching patients and blood from around the world takes time. Over the course of eight weeks, we were told two strong matches existed and the doctors were trying to line up the best donor and a date for transplant. The staff at Johns Hopkins has been amazing in fast-tracking and delivering on all aspects of this procedure thus far and we’ve met so many survivors with incredible, movie-like stories since March. We can only imagine the sheer volume of people behind the scenes – doctors, executives, forms being filled out, planes, technicians, nurses, couriers, etc. involved in saving her life next Monday and Tuesday.
Just think about it…
Miraculously, somewhere out in the world a human being will enter a hospital next Monday and give blood that will find its way to Baltimore and into a drip line into Jenn’s body that will save her life on Tuesday. And imagine the profound gratitude we’ll eternally feel toward this person.
And this all happened because this anonymous person put their spit in an envelope at some point over the past 15 years and offered to save someone’s life and their number got called. It’s a very random lottery. This person doesn’t know Jenn. They have no idea whose life they’re saving.
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The mystery miracle person could be in the United States or somewhere in Europe. One day, there will be a whole story from their side of the life-saving equation. I hope one day I’ll get to talk to that person on my radio show and find out how this person saved my wife’s life. It’s going to be one helluva story when this is all done.
It’s the most profound and emotionally overwhelming thing I can possibly imagine – saving a stranger’s life.
Just think about it…
We knew this kind of miracle was going to save Jenn’s life early in the process so we found There Goes My Hero, a local charity created by survivors of leukemia and bone marrow transplants that supports the families of victims and swabs as many people as divinely possible so that more people can find matches and more lives can be saved. We can’t think of a better way to lend support to all leukemia and cancer victims than to be a part of the solution of the next miracle.
Our next event for There Goes My Hero is on June 24th at Padonia Ale House with Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. Please get everyone young in your life activated and out to Timonium to give a spit for Jenn and to pay it forward for the next victim!!!!
So, while things have been very gray and murky over the past three months we have #BmorePositive faith and confidence that our spirit will carry the day and that #JennStrong will be seeing a Baltimore Ravens game at some point in the fall once she fully recovers.
I will be by her side as much as possible in the coming weeks but most aspects of my WNST.net work world as the sports media guy will continue on as well.
8Tonight, I’ll be at Buffalo Wild Wings in Owings Mills with the Baltimore Ravens rookies. On Saturday from 12:30-2 p.m., I’ll be doing a Father’s Day Purple Reign 2 signing at Greetings and Readings in Hunt Valley. (You should buy the book for dad! It’s the best work of my career! Buy it here! It’ll be great summer reading and you’ll learn a lot about the Baltimore Ravens).
I’ll also be on the radio here at WNST.net & AM 1570 every day from 3 ‘til 6 p.m. doing The Happy Hours and Jenn might even call in on some days when she’s feeling good.
It’s been an awe-inspiring
