DKMS Gala & Gregory's Bone Marrow Donor ~ Part II

Part I ~ Back Story

Even just though just a few days have passed, I am having a hard time remembering the details. I should have been writing as I went, but there was just too much going on and I wanted to 'live in the moment' as much as humanly possible.

We arrived at the airport and had to wait for the ticket counter to open. Yep. We were too early. What? You think we were excited to get going? Once the window opened we were told that we could check in at the kiosk. Cool. Done. Tickets printed. But, wait.... my ticket says Mindi Finch. Crap. Tickets must match your ID. My ID is under Malinda Finch. Back to ticket counter. Tell guy the deal. Guy's response: "Ugh. This is a pain to fix." Amazingly the fellow to his right was a 'I know all the tricks.' whiz. After some lengthy keyboard tapping my ticket was corrected and re-issued. *whew* Thankfully we live in a small city and The OffSpring had their first TSA experience in a nearly empty airport. Of note: TSA employees have zip for personality. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Don't know if they train them to be that way or they intentionally hire the personality-less population. We headed to the gate and sat to wait some more. All three of them were bouncing back and forth between the windows and our seats. Checking out the planes, offering all kinds of conjecture about the planes in front of them. We boarded our plane and we were split into three separate rows. At first I was bummed out by this, but it turned out to be a GREAT thing. AnnMarie had a window seat, Gregory had a window seat with me beside him and Curtis was in front of us with a window seat. Not sure if DKMS planned it that way, but all three kids got a window seat for their first airplane ride and there was not one ounce of arguing.

*A note on pictures. I don't have that many. Those that I have are either grainy from my phone or hurried from my camera. Juggling luggage, personal items, three kids and new experiences resulted in my inability to capture much of anything. No big deal, really. Except I can't download the images in my head to you. what I do have will have to suffice. Also? Curtis is 13yo and extremely teenagery when it comes to the camera. He refuses to let me take his picture.

How's your flight, Gregory?

Sister?

Curtis.

The flying part was OK for them. Not too terribly exciting. I will say that Curtis had the luck of the draw flying into NYC. He was the only one with a window seat and had the view of Manhattan as we flew in. Turkey. Our layover was Minneapolis and we had a scant 30 minutes to get to our next gate. That airport is HUGE! Not what I expected. They did great and we made our flight. We discovered EARLY that Curtis' tree trunk legs out flank Gregory's tooth pick legs by a very large margin. Everyone along the way to our gate knew Curtis' name. "Curtis, would you slow down.", "Curtis, wait.", "Curtis, be respectful to your brother." etc.....

We landed at LaGuardia and our adventure really began. We made our way to baggage claim and standing among the other drivers, was a man dressed in black holding a sign reading "FINCH". Talk about surreal. He and Curtis got our luggage, loaded it into the car and off we went to Manhattan. It was 3:00 in the afternoon, local time. The traffic was pretty thin and we made great time. Our home for the next several days was Tribeca at the Tribeca Grand Hotel. Let me tell you, this hotel was very unassuming, yet extremely posh. Which I guess would be the truest from of luxury. It wasn't until our stay was nearly over that I realized why the lighting was so dim. Out of respect to the privacy of it's guests. Yes, it was that kind of hotel and neighborhood. Which set my anxiety soaring. Aside from keeping Gregory healthy during this trip, my two biggest worries were keeping The OffSpring safe and fed.

We were checked in, our luggage taken to our rooms. Yes, rooms. We had a one bedroom suite and the adjoining two bed room. Plenty of room for all of us. They had also asked us if we wanted a goldfish in our room. Yes. A goldfish. We have goldfish at home and the OffSpring were tickled to have a friend in the rooms with us.

Our friend for a few days.

The OffSpring had heard that NYC was an extremely noisy city. They were worried that they would not be able to sleep over the noise from the street. Our hotel had that covered.

Pretty slick.

Part of our view from the two bed room. Crazy parking!

After we were settled, we headed out to find some grub and get our bearings. Not having any idea of where anything was, where it was safe to walk and what the area had to offer, we headed out to whole foods. I needed to know where a store was, in case I needed anything. As it turned out it was quite far from our hotel. After a long day of travel, AnnMarie and Gregory were spent. They were amazing troopers, though. We got what we needed and headed back. After dinner the OffSpring were ready to crash. They went down and I tried to sleep.

I couldn't. I don't think I've ever felt that kind of anxiety before. We had three more days ahead of us and I did not know anything. Just thinking about it now sends my heart racing. If the next few days were similar to getting to Whole Foods I was in trouble. We would manage, it just would be a challenge. Gregory has very little endurance and he still had a cough. His wellness is/was/forever will be my first priority. In the spirit of honesty and full disclosure I also need to add..... I had not had a cigarette since we left Spokane. Yes, I smoke. Can't seem to quit. I'll get there. Someday. I had hoped that I could abstain during this trip and then be done with the whole mess. Nope. My racing heart, churning stomach and confused brain just could not sleep. I snuck out the door, headed downstairs and had a smoke. Best decision I could have made. My mind quieted, my heart quit racing and I was able to realize that we would be OK. Don't judge me. Addiction is a beast, compounded by stress and anxiety. This is my reality.

Finally I fell asleep, all was well in our world. We were in NYC and getting ready to meet Gregory's live-saving bone marrow donor. Amazing things were about to happen.

Part III ~ Wednesday

With an OPEN heart.
MindiTheMagnificent
~Momcologist

A view from the suite. That's the new WTC being built in the distance. 

DKMS Gala and Gregory's Bone Marrow Donor ~ Part I

It's currently 11:15pm, the evening of Saturday, April 28. Daddy is sawing logs and The OffSpring are spending the night with Nana and Papa. My earbuds are in and Spotify is rolling. I'm about to write a story. A true story of adventure, fear, anxiety and over flowing love. With a rare ending. One few people experience and fewer still experience in the way that we have. There will be a lot of words. Are you ready? Let's go.

This past Tuesday, April 24, 2012, nearly in the middle of the night, my alarm went off at 2:30am. After only two and a half hours of restless sleep. I got myself ready, then at 3:00am went to rouse The OffSpring. AnnMarie's alarm went off and she bounded out of bed. "We're goin' to New York City!" Curtis came rambling up the stairs. Gregory slept through it all. At promptly 3:30am, Nana and Papa pulled up to the curb. Gregory woke enough to realize that the moment really had arrived. We loaded into the car, with grins, nervous laughter and butterflies in our bellies.

The kids and I were on our way to the airport, flying to NYC. This would be our first time to NYC and The OffSpring's first time on an airplane.

I had been hanging onto this trip since November of 2011. In October, while picking up AnnMarie from school, my phone rang and it was a 206 area code. Recognizing it was Gregory's treatment center in Seattle, I anxiously answered the phone. Wondering if they were going to tell me that our donor wanted us to know who she was. That's what it was. Kind of. Apparently Gregory's donor center wanted us to meet and do some media. They needed me to sign a release form before any plans or information could be shared. This was the phone call that I had been waiting for, ever since we received The Magical Phone Call on April 21, 2009, that we had a matched donor for Gregory's transplant. The form was sent, signed and sent back. Then another waiting game.

November 10, 2011, I received a phone call from Katharina Harf, COO of  DKMS Americas. DKMS is the largest bone marrow donor center in the world. Their United States office is located in NYC. They hold an annual fundraising gala. 100% of the proceeds from this event go directly to getting potential donors swabbed and registered for potential matches. Every year at this event they highlight a donor/recipient meet. In order to preserve the authenticity of the meet, the donor and recipient need to remain anonymous to each other until the actual meet on stage, at the event. Katharina had called ask if Gregory and his donor would be the pair to meet for the DKMS gala in April of 2012. Of course I responded with an overwhelming 'YES!'. Aside from close friends and relatives, I have had to keep this under wraps. Not able to share openly what we were getting ready to do! Drove me absolutely crazy to not shout it from the roof tops. Over the next several weeks, I was introduced to the participating member of the DKMS and event planning team. It was decided that a video would be done to show at the gala, prior to our meet. DKMS contacted a local company Seven2 and a local production company ILF Media. They came out to our home and interviewed us on a bright sunny day in February.

Then the waiting really began. The plans were laid. DKMS took care of all the travel, hotel and transportation. All we had to do was show up at the airport in Spokane. The biggest concern, as we waited, was making sure that Gregory remained healthy enough to travel. With the gala being at the end of April, we still faced the reality that cold/flu season could strike and take away the possibility of Gregory being healthy. Considering that his immune system is still not functioning at capacity, he is still receiving IVIgG every four weeks AND the avoidance of Chicken Pox that winter my anxiety over his health was sky high. This was an opportunity I was NOT about to miss. Yet, if Gregory was not well, we would not go. Period. Then there is the anxiety of traveling across the country, on my own, with all three of the kids. Not to mention that we would be in Manhattan. I knew that I could make it work, but wondering and worrying over how we would navigate this grand adventure tore at my gut, brain and heart. I had never been to NYC. Taking the OffSpring somewhere I had been to before would have been so much easier. Not knowing what was ahead was daunting to consider. The days, weeks and months plodded by.

All of a sudden it was 14 sleeps 'til NYC. Then 10 sleeps. Out of nowhere it was 1 sleep 'til NYC.

We are ready! <3 

Part II ~ Tuesday

My heart is overflowing.
MindiTheMagnificent
~Momcologist