A New Friend

Part of the reason I have been feeling so good mentally lately is because of what happened this past Monday. My social worker at the hospital asked me if I would like to have the contact information of a past stem cell transplant patient. She told me the girl was a few years younger than me, was diagnosed with ALL last January & had her stem cell transplant last May. It’s been a year since her transplant so my social worker thought she would be a great person for me to talk to & ask any questions I had. She gave me her name, Maddie, and her email address & said it’s up to you if you want to contact her when you’re ready.

I pulled her email address out of my purse one day & said why not! I decided to email her & make sure she was comfortable with me asking her a few questions. She answered right away & was so excited that I had contacted her. She offered to drive to me & meet up so we could really talk. She lives about 45 minutes away so I thought that was super nice of her! We met up at Starbucks for a drink & we talked for 3 hours! It went well to say the least. I was nervous about it at first but I’m so glad I did it!! I told her my story, she shared hers. I asked her a ton of questions about her transplant & what things have been like for her this past year post transplant. She’s doing very well which is so good to see! She really helped put my mind at ease & now I feel so ready to have my transplant. She brought me a little gift too, how sweet! It was a few things that really helped her during her hospital stay (a notebook, lip balm, biotine mouthwash & bio oil). She wrote a note in the card to me as well. She is such a nice girl. We got along very well & I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again soon.

I’m so glad I met Maddie. All of the patients on the Hematology floor at the Hospital are much older than I am. Having someone to talk to who is my age & has gone through the same thing as me is such a good feeling. She understands & can relate to almost everything I say. My friends & my family have been so good to me throughout all this. They’re always there to talk & support me. But at times people don’t get what I’m going through or how I’m feeling. I don’t expect people to understand what I’m going through. You can never fully understand it unless you experience it yourself, and I don’t wish that upon anyone. ~