Let me explain... My sister and I had a plan to have a relaxing day shopping and handling some exchanges (because I am an online shopaholic and always buy outfits in 2 sizes since there's no internet dressing room!) at the mall today. We were walking through the mall with our reusable insulated coffee cups on account of it being Tax Day! What does Tax Day have to do with coffee cups, you ask? Starbucks!
So with that kick of caffeine, we rounded another wing of the mall. That's when I noticed two women in lab coats standing at a table and something just made me approach them. They didn't run up to me offering to scrub my hands with salt from the dead seas, or try to urge me to indulge in a 15 minute massage at a kiosk in the middle of the mall, or even to switch my cell phone provider. Something just drew me over to them while they stood there smiling but not saying anything. I'm glad whatever force urged me to go over there did. They were part of the Caitlin Raymond International Registry
I had no idea what that was or what it meant, so I inquired. That's when I learned that they are an international registry for bone marrow and stem cell donors. Applying to be a potential bone marrow donor was always something I thought about, how amazing would it be to know you have the chance to save someone's life? It was always just a thought, but I never knew how to go about doing something like that. I am so grateful that they were there today and that I stopped by. I was able to fill out the paper work and they took a couple of DNA swabs right there and it was really that easy! They told me it's a 1 in 30,000 chance that I would actually be a match for someone, but hey- I've always had good luck! I would be honored to donate in hopes of saving someone's life. How amazing would it be to know you did something so selfless and how life impacting it could be for someone else? It makes me feel so good knowing I'm just in the registry and could possibly be able to do that for someone else.
When I told my boyfriend and my mother, the first thing they both said was, "Oh wow, isn't that extremely painful though?". That was something I had always heard, but even back then that never seemed to bother me much. A temporary pain is so worth it if it meant saving somebody's life. Do you know how painful it is to have cancer? I'm pretty sure it hurts an awful lot more (physically and emotionally) than donating bone marrow. But what is even more miraculous is how different the procedure can be now. Thanks to technology, you are able to donate the blood stem cells through blood. This is called peripheral blood stem cell donation. You undergo a procedure called apheresis, it's similar to dialysis; you're set up to 2 IV's, your blood comes out, they remove the stem cells, and then it is piped right back into you! Occasionally they still have to attempt the more painful procedure by extracting the stem cells from the bone marrow in your hipbone, but that is becoming less and less often due to the ease of the new procedure.
Moving onto an entirely different topic... I bought new protein powder! I have been fighting a never ending battle with protein powders. I literally have an entire cabinet full of various tubs of protein powder, most of which I'm fine to drink once and a while, but then I get horribly bored of the chalky taste (even when they originally don't taste chalky! Mind over matter folks...). While at the mall I stopped in GNC and noticed they were having a sale on their brand of protein powders. I jumped at the chance to finally try an unflavored protein powder for such a good price, $22.99 for a 2lb tub! I will review it in my blog tomorrow after trying it. I also plan on writing a blog dedicated solely to my endeavors with protein powders this weekend, so keep a lookout for that. I'm always open to any opinions you may on protein powders and which you prefer so feel free to post in the comment section.
I'm going to wrap up tonight's entry with an apology. Of course, you can tell by my procrastination of the subject that I was hesitant to mention it but I know I made a promise! My official weigh in weight... Well, you all will just have to keep visiting the blog to find out! I ended up not going to Weight Watchers this morning because a friend of mine suggested I hold off until Saturday and go during a time when a specific meeting leader would be running the meeting. She assured me that this woman is worth the wait, so we'll see in 2 days if she's all that my friend hyped her up to be! I did however step on the scale this morning, but I'll keep that to myself- I know my Weight Watchers weigh in weight will be 3-4 lbs heavier on account of clothing so I don't want to leave you with the impression that I spontaneously gain 4lbs every 2 days!
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