Medical Reality is run by Jenny and Mark.
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I used to believe that if you had the will to live then you would, but now I know the reality... The reality is there are thousands of people with the best will to live that are dying, and will continue to die unless a complete stranger helps them out. The people I'm referring to need a Bone Marrow/Stem Cell Transplant, and without one they will die. All around the world, people of all ages, races, and backgrounds are dying of cancers that are curable.
Leukemia is the number one cancer killer among children, even though there is a cure...
What if I told you that you could be their only chance at life, and you wouldn't have to give up anything that your body wouldn't make back naturally. Sounds too good to be true? Well it's true... I'm speaking from experience. I literally saved the life of a person with cancer, and I didn't have to give up an organ, or a piece of bone, or anything else my body would ever need again.
It seems these days that everyone knows or has known someone with cancer, or another type of life-threatening disease...
We may not have found the cure for all of them yet, but we have found the cure for many different diseases, and that is a Bone Marrow/Stem Cell Transplant.
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Jennys Story
Nine years ago, my younger sister was diagnosed with Chronic Melogenous Leukemia. Three weeks later, we found out that I was what the doctors called a perfect match. We flew from Alaska to Seattle, to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Care Alliance. I went through some basic test, to make sure I was healthy enough to be a donor. The doctors then gave me the option to donate stem cells or bone marrow. These are basically the same thing (blood cells).
The difference is how they extract the cells from your body. They explained to me that the Stem Cell Transplant, which is also called peripheral donation, is done by a procedure called apheresis. With this procedure the doctors would give me (the donor), one shot a day of growth hormones for four-to-five days. This is so the donated stem cells are easily accessible from my veins. Then the doctors would insert a needle in both arms. They take the cells out of one arm and run it through a machine, that filters out only the cells that the patient will need, then they return the unneeded cells back to me (donor) in the other arm.
The second option they gave me was a Bone Marrow Transplant. For this procedure they would put me under anesthesia, and go through the back side of my pelvis (my lower back) with a needle to get out the needed bone marrow (the blood cells in my pelvis), I feel the name of this is procedure can be very deceiving. I need to make it clear, "they do not take bone, only blood cells". I should also note, I don't know if every donor will have the option for which procedure they will donate. I personally don't care much for needles, so I chose to go with the Bone Marrow Transplant, and be put under anesthesia. The procedure took about two hours. They extracted two units of marrow. I was sore for about two weeks, "not that bad."
"Not bad at all, considering that the small amount of effort I went through saved someone's life."
July 18, 2010 was the nine-year mark since I saved my sister's life. I would do it again in a heart beat for anyone. Reading this, you may think that being chosen as a donor would be a scary thing to go through. Well, to that I say, "it's no walk in the park."
Please take a moment to think about what it would feel like to have a doctor tell you, "you would die, unless someone else is willing to donate to you."
Everyday, thousands of people all around the world are faced with just that.
One last thing I would like to make it clear, just because you register to donate (which is only four swabs from the inside of your cheeks, and the packet is mailed to your home), doesn't mean that you will donate anything. It only means that you are put into a data base, with millions of other people that are willing to donate.
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Marks Story
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As most poeple that work in this industry, I was motivated from the unfortunate circumstance of losing a loved one. I decided I would try and do whatever it took to provide support for people who suffer from cancer. So, how did I get here? I completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and went to work. I wanted to be a bedside nurse as they are the ones that meant the most to me – I found them the most rewarding and fulfilling.
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Unfortunetely not long after I finished my degree a family member was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer. I spent most of my time taking him to different treatments and appointments. It was around about this time I realised I wasn't happy with the care Cancer patients had and realised they definetely needed more support - and Medical Reality was born.
We took a lot of inspiration from a company called The Loc.
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If you're from the UK and looking for Bowel Cancer Care then feel free to contact for free advice. There are other options in the UK such as LOC. The LOC work with some of the leading experts in bowel cancer treatment in the UK to ensure you receive the highest possible standard of care. So contact LOC if you're looking for private bowel cancer treatment