We Are One

September 22, 2010. 4:00pm I received the call from Nancy, The Transplant Coordinator. She had the results from the blood tests. Her voice is very neutral. I couldn't get a feel for what she was going to say. I was prepared for anything. No matter what, I knew it would be perfect.

My heart was pounding. She confirmed my blood type of A+, the same as Mariama's. The other tests conclude that Mariama was a perfect match and that she was an excellent candidate to accept the donation. It was like hitting the lottery. It was as though we were sisters. We are sisters. More than that, we are One. 

The way it is set up, Mariama and I have different transplant teams. One for Mariama 'the recipient' and one for me ‘the donor.' Nancy being my coordinator could not contact the recipient. But I was shaking with excitement and could hardly wait to make the call.

"Mariama, this is Thea. I just got off the phone with Nancy. The results show that we are a match." Mariama asked me to repeat myself and then she started to laugh or cry or something. We were both in shock for the good news. A wonderful way to start the weekend!

Even better was the fact that when I called Mariama, she was in Boston and could easily go to see Nancy to pick up what I needed for the next level of the evaluation. The next test..a 24 hour urine sample.

Note to self: Theo and Mariama share the same birth date. November 5th.