I hope you had a good Christmas. We had our first Christmas in Seattle, and it was great. Let me share one of our special memories of this Christmas.
We received a phone call from the hospital on 12/23. Jason was excited and saying "I didn't know we could do that", "I'll pick it up tomorrow" etc... I was wondering what was going on. He had blood drawn earlier on that day, and his blood levels had been unstable for the last week, so I was hoping nothing serious was going on. But he sounded happy and excited...
After the short phone conversation, Jason told me "they have a card from the donor!". What a great surprise right before Christmas! It was 4:15 pm, the clinic office was closing at 5pm. We looked at each other for a few minutes... "Can we make it?... Let's go!". It usually takes 30 minutes to get there if there is no traffic (you never know how it is). We packed up boys in the car, left the house 4:30, and got there 4:58! Jason ran up to the 6th floor (of course used an elevator) while we waited in the car, and came back with the card!
We opened the card in the car. The front of the card said "Wishing you well" - nice get well card.
Inside, the printed words said:
Hope today finds you feeling better than yesterday, and that you'll feel stronger with each new tomorrow.
And here is what he wrote:
Hello,
I have been thinking about how you are doing and wish you a speedy recovery. I am grateful to have had this opportunity to donate for you.
Take care/get well.
Your Donor
How lucky we are to have such a wonderful donor. Not only he donated his bone marrow, but also he cares about Jason.
We were told that we could not contact the donor until 1 year after the transplant. He did not put his name or contact info. There were only the donor and Jason's ID numbers on the envelope. What we didn't know was we could communicate each other anonymously. We are excited to write him back.
I hope someday we will be able to tell him thank face to face (maybe with a big hug).
Love,
Mayumi
P.S.
Quick updates on Jason:
Today is Day 80, and he is schedule to have bone marrow biopsy tomorrow. Like I mentioned before, his blood levels went down, but came back a little. He's been having blood drawn 3 times last week to keep close eyes on the levels. His feet have been swollen a lot since he started high blood pressure medicine a couple weeks ago. His blood pressure went higher because of steroid- which he has been off for a few weeks.
But over all, he is feeling good. His little whiskers and hair are trying to grow back here and there.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Let's add one more!
My brother, Kenichi, in Japan registered as a bone marrow donor. Big thanks to him to start in Japan. So, here is some info for those who reads this in Japan. Let's add one more in the donor counter 3!
日本の皆様、私の兄がドナー登録をしました。下記のリンクを参照してください!
http://www.jmdp.or.jp/reg/
現在、私のドナーカウンターは３です。年明けには、もう少し情報を載せたり、イベントを考えていこうと思います。
ジェイソンは元気にしています。GVHDに対するステロイド治療も昨日が最後でした。移植から70日目が過ぎたので、残り約1ヶ月、急性GVHDに注意する必要がありますが、医師から混雑してない所なら外出許可が出ているので、たまには買い物に行ったり私と一緒にヨガに行っています。
今回のステロイドは、スポーツ選手が取る筋肉を大きくするタイプとは反対で、かえって筋肉を減らしてしまう副作用があります。そのせいで、もともと細い手足が、いっそう細くなってしまいました。顔やお腹はステロイドの別の副作用で脹らんでいて、薬が終わったので顔とお腹もしぼんでしまうのか見守っています。体重は移植時から約15キロ減りました。
皆さんの祈りと励ましに感謝してます。
真由美でした。
日本の皆様、私の兄がドナー登録をしました。下記のリンクを参照してください!
http://www.jmdp.or.jp/reg/
現在、私のドナーカウンターは３です。年明けには、もう少し情報を載せたり、イベントを考えていこうと思います。
ジェイソンは元気にしています。GVHDに対するステロイド治療も昨日が最後でした。移植から70日目が過ぎたので、残り約1ヶ月、急性GVHDに注意する必要がありますが、医師から混雑してない所なら外出許可が出ているので、たまには買い物に行ったり私と一緒にヨガに行っています。
今回のステロイドは、スポーツ選手が取る筋肉を大きくするタイプとは反対で、かえって筋肉を減らしてしまう副作用があります。そのせいで、もともと細い手足が、いっそう細くなってしまいました。顔やお腹はステロイドの別の副作用で脹らんでいて、薬が終わったので顔とお腹もしぼんでしまうのか見守っています。体重は移植時から約15キロ減りました。
皆さんの祈りと励ましに感謝してます。
真由美でした。
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Donor Register No. 2!
Hooray! We have a donor register No. 2! Thanks to our good friend nurse Beth and her husband Alex!
Well... I proposed my project, and I have not done anything! Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping have been keeping me busy (not too busy taking care of Jason as you know, he is still doing great), but here is a link that Beth suggested: http://marrow.org/Home.aspx
Please check this site, and I hope this will help you to register as a bone marrow donor!
My register count is now 2!
Love,
Mayumi
Monday, December 5, 2011
A Big Thanks
Ok, I know most of you will be disappointed but yes, this is Jason writing this post, not Mayumi. When I originally started this blog, I thought I would be the one doing most of the posting but Mayumi has done such a great job keeping everyone updated and I'm glad she has done all the hard work :)
This is a post I've been wanting to do for a long time and is way overdue. It's been an amazing experience for both Mayumi and I to see all the support from Family, Friends, Co-workers and people we barely know. I thought it would be fun to share a couple of stories of some of thoughtful things people have done for us during this time. So basically this post is a BIG thank you to everyone.
To my co-workers in Seattle and Japan:
I've been very fortunate to work with a company that has given me great opportunities to work with some incredible people. My current team in Seattle/Canada is part of this incredible group. One of the first visitor I had at the hospital was Tronda from the office with a big poster board for my wall with messages from everyone from the team. (and a nice goody bag too..)
Now, I know this sound very simple, but it was so nice to look over at the wall and see the thoughtful messages of encouragement that were written from every member of the team. Especially during the bad days. I also received a package from a co-worker in Canada. Everything in the package was either made in Canada or about Canada. Becky, I'm not sure if I'm ready to move to Canada, but the maple syrup was great! They continue to check in and I can't thank them enough for their support.
Another package I received was from my co-workers in Japan. In 2010, I had the incredible opportunity to be a part of this team and work with them on a new product.
During this process, not only did I have incredible experiences, but I made some great friends along the way. As most of you know, I served a Mormon mission in Japan about 20 years ago. I remember within the first 2 months of being there, I was invited into a friend's home and saw a beautifully display of origami cranes. When I asked what this was, he told me that this was a gift given to him by his sister. He said a few years before, he was very sick and was in the hospital for a long time. While he was there, his sister and family made this display folding each crane and attaching them together. By doing so, the person/people making the cranes can make one wish for the person receiving it. There are 1,000 cranes in this display. 1,000! I remember leaving that house thinking, "Wow, what great thing to receive". Well, this is what was in the package I received from Japan. When I opened the box I was overwhelmed with emotion. I knew what this meant and I knew the effort it took to put this together. Never in my life would I thought I would receive something like this. A big thanks to the Japan team for this. It's something I will never forget.
To friends, family and neighbors:
Mayumi and I can't believe the love, support and prayers we have received during the time. It's been amazing! The phone call, emails, cards, packages, people bringing over gifts, food, goodies, raking the leaves, hanging Christmas lights on the house...I could go on and on. You all know who you are and we couldn't go through this with out you!
Quick update:
The last 4 weeks have been great! The doctors are very happy with the way my blood count looks, how I feel, no signs of GVHD and that I have a good energy level. I still have no immune system and have to stay out big crowds, but, as Mayumi mentioned before, I'm able to go to public places in none busy hours which has been great. They also gave me permission to attend a Yoga class at the local YMCA. Mayumi has been going to this class for a while and it's been fun going to it with her.
Today was day 62 from when I had the bone marrow transplant. The doctors have told us from the beginning that if something major was to happen it would happen with in the first 100 days. So, I'm a little over halfway there! After the 100 day mark, I will be release from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and start seeing a post transplant Oncologist. I know that things could change at anytime, but that being said, I'm so glad the first half of the 100 days have gone so well.
Thanks again to everyone!
Jason
This is a post I've been wanting to do for a long time and is way overdue. It's been an amazing experience for both Mayumi and I to see all the support from Family, Friends, Co-workers and people we barely know. I thought it would be fun to share a couple of stories of some of thoughtful things people have done for us during this time. So basically this post is a BIG thank you to everyone.
To my co-workers in Seattle and Japan:
I've been very fortunate to work with a company that has given me great opportunities to work with some incredible people. My current team in Seattle/Canada is part of this incredible group. One of the first visitor I had at the hospital was Tronda from the office with a big poster board for my wall with messages from everyone from the team. (and a nice goody bag too..)
Now, I know this sound very simple, but it was so nice to look over at the wall and see the thoughtful messages of encouragement that were written from every member of the team. Especially during the bad days. I also received a package from a co-worker in Canada. Everything in the package was either made in Canada or about Canada. Becky, I'm not sure if I'm ready to move to Canada, but the maple syrup was great! They continue to check in and I can't thank them enough for their support.
Another package I received was from my co-workers in Japan. In 2010, I had the incredible opportunity to be a part of this team and work with them on a new product.
During this process, not only did I have incredible experiences, but I made some great friends along the way. As most of you know, I served a Mormon mission in Japan about 20 years ago. I remember within the first 2 months of being there, I was invited into a friend's home and saw a beautifully display of origami cranes. When I asked what this was, he told me that this was a gift given to him by his sister. He said a few years before, he was very sick and was in the hospital for a long time. While he was there, his sister and family made this display folding each crane and attaching them together. By doing so, the person/people making the cranes can make one wish for the person receiving it. There are 1,000 cranes in this display. 1,000! I remember leaving that house thinking, "Wow, what great thing to receive". Well, this is what was in the package I received from Japan. When I opened the box I was overwhelmed with emotion. I knew what this meant and I knew the effort it took to put this together. Never in my life would I thought I would receive something like this. A big thanks to the Japan team for this. It's something I will never forget.
To friends, family and neighbors:
Mayumi and I can't believe the love, support and prayers we have received during the time. It's been amazing! The phone call, emails, cards, packages, people bringing over gifts, food, goodies, raking the leaves, hanging Christmas lights on the house...I could go on and on. You all know who you are and we couldn't go through this with out you!
Quick update:
The last 4 weeks have been great! The doctors are very happy with the way my blood count looks, how I feel, no signs of GVHD and that I have a good energy level. I still have no immune system and have to stay out big crowds, but, as Mayumi mentioned before, I'm able to go to public places in none busy hours which has been great. They also gave me permission to attend a Yoga class at the local YMCA. Mayumi has been going to this class for a while and it's been fun going to it with her.
Today was day 62 from when I had the bone marrow transplant. The doctors have told us from the beginning that if something major was to happen it would happen with in the first 100 days. So, I'm a little over halfway there! After the 100 day mark, I will be release from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and start seeing a post transplant Oncologist. I know that things could change at anytime, but that being said, I'm so glad the first half of the 100 days have gone so well.
Thanks again to everyone!
Jason
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