Drill On

Its been a rough couple of days. My little buddy, Ty, hasn't been doing so hot. He started out having headaches this past weekend, and by yesterday, they were very bad and his face was starting to droop. So off to the doctor's office he went and while hoping for a clogged shunt, they found out that the tumor is still growing... while on chemo. Yeah, that sucks.

Luckily, he's home from the hospital now and the headaches are fixed, albeit with steroids. Roid rage, baby! He's going to need surgery, probably next week, though so they can relieve some of the pressure in his head and re-biopsy the tumor to make sure its not transforming into something more agressive. Ugh. Oh well, at least he's home for the time being and I'm going to visit this weekend! I can't wait to see my Ty-guy!

And now is probably where you're all thinking, "WTH, why is this post titled 'Drill On'?" Well, I decided to be a little proactive with the cancer thing.

I just signed up for the bone marrow registry . Its usually $52, which is why I hadn't done it yet, but they sometimes waive the fee, and I figured I'd wait it out until I could do it for free. Unlike donating blood, which I suck at (right, Joe? Almost puking on you and all. -blushy-), you don't have to be at least 110 lbs or anything like that. Just sign up, spit on some q-tips that they send you and wait until you match someone.

So here is my official plug for this: Basically, I cannot understand how someone could not want to do this. Same goes for donating blood and being an organ donor. Blood: I passed out.. twice.. and puked all over the place while feeling like I was seriously about to die, but ya know what, I would totally do it again. All that "your donation saves several people!" stuff the blood bank spouts to get donors is definitely the truth. And organs, well, let's just say I don't know why you care who has your kidneys when YOU'RE DEAD! But enough about that... Bone marrow transplants are honestly the only shot a lot of people, especially kids, have at life. It's not just cancer either. A lot of weird blood and immune system diseases (think bubble boy) can be cured with a BMT, and in these cases, an unrelated donor is probably the only option since those diseases run in families and siblings, the most likely matches, are often affected as well. And finally, the procedure itself isn't so bad. Sure, you might be hobbling around for a few days, but they put you to sleep for the procedure itself, so you won't even know what they're doing.

So there it is, blog readers. Do with it what you will.