“Act as if everything depends on you; pray as if everything
depends on God.” ~ Mother Teresa
They’d never met. The one she should have called Mom took off
the day after Latisha was born, leaving her to the care of a maternity
shelter. Latisha shuffled in and out of
countless foster homes, most of which were dreadful. She often fantasized that it’d all been a
huge mistake – that her Mom was coming back to get her. But she never made a single attempt . . .
until today . . . an invitation . . . to try and reconnect.
She once dreamed that this day would come, but that was long
ago. When she really needed a Mom to
talk to about boys, about hair and other ‘girl stuff’ - no one answered the
call. Too late now; no chance for
reconciliation! She actually hoped her rejection
would break her bio-Mom’s heart. Served
her right!
Besides, Latisha had enough to worry about. She’d been recently diagnosed with aplastic
anemia, a rare but very serious disorder that occurs when bone marrow fails to
regenerate blood cells. Her best shot at
beating it was a bone marrow transplant so long as a suitable donor could be
found. But ethnic minorities on the bone
marrow registry are disturbingly rare.
Survival rates for non-blood-relative transplant patients are not great,
barely 50%.
It’s a lonely illness and Latisha was devastated not only by
the diagnosis, but also the isolating lifestyle of immuno-compromised
living. She literally went underground,
avoiding most contact except texting.
A potential donor surfaced once, but after the match was
confirmed, she received a letter saying that the transplant was no longer
viable. Two years later, Latisha
received another call from the registry - the original donor’s health had
improved enough to begin the transplant process.
The procedure involved risk.
First, Latisha’s diseased bone marrow was destroyed by radiation. Next, the donor’s healthy marrow was
surgically extracted and injected into Latisha’s bloodstream. New blood cells began forming in just a few
weeks. The process required a lengthy
hospital stay and ‘buckets’ of pills to prevent rejection of the donated
marrow.
When the Hematologist announced five years later that she
was in complete remission, Latisha finally grasped the significance of her
terrifying ordeal. She’d beaten a
life-threatening disease by the grace of God and the help of a perfect
stranger. She was blessed . . . and
lucky!
She’d finally have the opportunity to meet her donor. She’d learned that her biological Mom
donated her own bone marrow as often as was medically possible (22 donations)
in a selfless attempt to help save Latisha’s life. Today a long-overdue reunion will take place .
. . and her healing would be complete.
I’m just so grateful for all of your
blessings in my life, Lord. I pray that
You remind me of just how lucky I am, and that you never allow me to forget to
show my gratitude in prayer and returned kind acts. Amen
