When we take the time to look back at the things that happened in our lives, we can all pretty easily spot those moments when it seemed like our worlds were falling apart all around us. Some of them are easily overcome by a little diligence, some hard work, and a bit of regrouping. But some things cannot be so easily overcome.
For some old friends of mine, Joe and Dianne Waldron and their family, there is no tougher time than now. Their 20-month old grandson Quinlan Thomas was recently diagnosed with leukemia and his chances of survival are growing less and less every day.
According to Joe, it was only a short time ago when Quinlan was a happy go lucky 20 month old, riding around his back yard in an electric car. Then in short order the lad found himself locked up in a hospital with tubes and needles and nurses and doctors hovering around. It got to the point where he would start crying the minute a doctor or nurse came through the door, because he was relating that experience to another round of poking, prodding and needle sticks.
It’s hard to imagine the change, and impossible to digest. What Quinlan is going through would be tough on an adult, but on a child who isn’t even two yet there has to be a sense of unreality.
For Joe and Dianne, and Quinlan’s mom Caroline Thomas and the Thomas family, it’s beyond a difficult time. This isn’t the kind of thing that hard work, or just being good people can get you past. There is little they can do short of prayer and hoping that the doctors can come up with something.
“It’s a feeling of helplessness, there’s just nothing we can do,” Joe said. “I’m not the kind of person who cries about things, but this has had me crying and sobbing.”
At this point, Quinlan’s best chance to survive leukemia is to have a bone marrow transplant. In order to try to help Quinlan and other leukemia patients, there will be a bone marrow donor registration Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Colonial Heights Optimist Club, 916 Meridian Ave. in Colonial Heights.
Registering as a bone marrow donor is relatively easy. They use a swab to acquire a DNA sample, and then keep the resulting tissue type in a thing called the Be the Match Registry®, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). It’s painless.
If you’re a match, you must be willing to consider donating to any patient who needs your marrow type. If you do, there are two ways to donate: peripheral blood stem cells and bone marrow.
While the odds of finding a bone marrow donor Saturday may be low, they are even lower if you don’t take the time to stop by the Optimist Club Saturday. It’s a five minute side trip while you’re out yard sailing, but for Quinlan it is a matter of life or death.
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