It only takes one

'It only takes one donor to walk through the door and be a match for you.'

That is what we told all those months ago when we had the rather crushing news that there were no donors on the national and international database at that time that matched my 'odd' tissue type. They would continue to look but the chances of a match coming up for me were so unlikely that we had to stop considering this as an option, and face the fact that something more desperate would have to be done when necessary.

Well, sometimes the most unlikely things can still happen. And right now, somewhere out there is a 37 year old man who, in the last few months, has entered himself on the register and he matches me. He has also been contacted, had everything explained to him and given further blood samples to verify his identity. This means he is a willing donor. I hope I do not need to explain how flipping amazing this is. And god bless this man, I want to kiss him.

I found out of a 'potential' donor last Saturday when the consultant told me, but they had not obtained the further blood sample at the time so the consultant was not sure if he was a willing donor. This has been the hardest secret I have ever had to keep, but I wanted to be sure before letting it out.

I found out yesterday, and have only just got the point where I don't burst into tears everytime I think or talk about it. I am not going to say anymore about this in this post, but I will be posting another blog in the next few days to fully explain why this is such good news and what this means to my treatment now.

As for my recovery it is pretty much all good news. My neutrophils are up to 2.3 which is at the lower end of normal (normal being 2-8), my white blood cell count is good, red blood cell count still rising, etc. The only thing not quite there yet are the platelets which were 18, when they want them to be over 50. This meant that I could not have my central line out as there is a risk of bleeding, which is a shame, but I barely notice it now apart from at shower time because it has to be kept dry. The consultant does not want to see me for four weeks, on the condition that I keep feeling better, which is great as some people have to go weekly. And he took me off five of the seven drugs I was given when I left hospital, which is also good.

My appetite is back and I am eating normally, although I get full really quickly and I had lost a bit more weight when measured yesterday, so we are on a mission to fatten me up, which is quite exciting really. I love full cream milk. My only gripes are that I am cold all the time (I don't know if this is to do with a lack of hair as I am even having to wear a woolly hat round the house), and sore feet which I got today when I was walking around for quite a while. And I mean really sore feet, like they have been sun-burned and I was actually finding it quite hard to walk by the time I gave up. But these are small problems and nothing to really moan about. And anyway, since finding out I have a donor I have found it hard to be sad about anything!