Thanks

October 16, 2013
By: Ashlinn Parsons

Today is the eve of my two-year stem-cell birthday and this is the day I’ve been dreaming of. This is the day that all the statistics change, some for the better, some otherwise.

The good news is that the chances of relapse decrease significantly. The bad news is that the chances of my menopause reversing and the possibility that I will conceive naturally are also very slim. But there are chances, and in the event that that doesn’t happen, I’ve had fertility preservation. In fact, I wrote my first egg storage cheque and I am putting it in the mail on this two-year birthday.

So it’s been two years, and rather than think of this point in time as a deadline, I’ve thought about it in a different way. I’ve thought about what it means to survive this long, to make it, to live to this day like it’s been something to accomplish, and I’ve decided to dub it my due-date. It’s my due-date because this is the day all the nurses, all the doctors, all the specialists, all the researchers, all the staff, all the friends, all the family – everyone – has come to deliver.

And it’s happening. I’m having a life after cancer. I want to thank all of these – each and every one of these – individuals for the support, for having provided resources, and just for everything, absolutely everything. And to one individual in particular, for the gift that made receiving all of this possible: my donor, my 100% match. To this donor: you’re a stranger now, but on this birthday, I can know you. I can start the process of finding you, and telling you the one word that sums it all up, the one word that – although it is just one word – is really the only word that is to be said, the one word that matters: Thanks.