When all other treatments have been declared ineffective, a bone marrow transplant could be the only hope for life for someone who has contracted a blood disease. However, the probability of finding a donor with the matching human leukocyte antigen (HLA) type is only one out of ten thousand. Even if the patient is lucky enough to find someone, he still has to worry whether the donor will change his mind. Some donors get cold feet at the last minute, afraid that the operation may harm their own healt.

The slim probability of finding a donor plus the uncertainty that the donor will be willing to go through with it undoubtedly cause a great deal of anxiety and suffering for the patient. "Will someone really donate his or her bone marrow to me? If it were me, would I be willing to donate my marrow?" The patient hopes that if he is lucky enough to find a donor, then he may have an opportunity to live a new life. At the same time, he is afraid to be hurt. What will he do if the donor refuses to go through with it? Even if there is no problem with the transplant operation, what will the probability of success be? Will he be rid of the disease and regain his health?

All kinds of worries fly around in a patient's heart. With each tick of time, the patient's emotions go up and down. after the extermination treatment (in which a high dosage of chemicals kills all the original blood cells so that healthy marrow can be transplanted), the patient has to stake everything on one throw of the dice.

A Life and Death Gamble

Just because there are so many hardships in the course of seeking a new life, a patient is especially grateful to the marrow donor. According to Taiwanese law, the donor and recipient in a non-relative marrow transplant may not meet within one year of the transplant. After one year, a meeting can be arranged if both sides agree.

In order to satisfy the wish of the recipient and to publicize correct notions about bone marrow donation, the Tzu Chi Foundation arranged the first joyful encounter between a donor and a recipient on Mother's Day, 1995. In August 1996, five pairs of donors and recipients met during the Tzu Chi International Conference on Bone Marrow Data Bank and Transplantation. The recipients had always hoped to meet the donors who had given them new life. Still, when they finally met face to face, both recipients and donors impulsively shed tears of deep emotion. Even many people in the audience were so touched that they started looking for facial tissues.

"If the donor had not been brave enough to make the donation, I would not exist today." When he first heard the bad news that he had contracted a deadly blood disease, Yang Yung-sheng simply could not accept the fact. He immediately wondered what his wife and children would do. He contacted the Tzu Chi Marrow Donor Registry to look for a marrow donor. Not until he was notified of a successful match did he regain the hope of survival. However, what was the possibility of success for the transplant?

"My wife was very hesitant about the transplant. If the operation had failed, I would have been gone even sooner." Mr. Yang struggled within himself for a long time, which worried his family. After careful consideration, he finally decided to make the gamble.

Fearless Giving

What do marrow donors feel when they decide to donate their marrow?

"I feel life is so mysterious. The recipient and I are in no way related, yet my HLA type matches his." When Yang Tung-mei was notified that her marrow type matched that of a patient in the United States, she was half delighted and half sorry. She was glad that she finally had the chance to save someone, but she was sorry that the patient had already suffered so much.

"I believe the patients' parents must have been extremely anxious. If my child were afflicted with such a disease, I would try everything I could and go everywhere in the world to look for a marrow donor." Because the recipient was a child, Ms. Yang, the mother of two children, could feel the anxiety of the parents. She prayed to the Buddha every day that the recipient would recover. Unfortunately, the young recipient passed away because the transplant came too late. However, she will never forget the experience of donating her bone marrow.

"When I suddenly heard that the person who received my marrow had passed away, I couldn't help doubting whether my donation really made any sense." Yeh Mei-ching, the first donor of a non-relative transplant, kept wondering whether the purpose of her donation was just to let the recipient suffer a few more miserable days. After watching the joyful meetings of other donors and recipients, however, Ms. Yeh finally realized how important it was to offer a chance of survival to patients who suffered from blood disease.

"Maybe reality is too hard to face," remarked Ms. Yeh. "On the other hand, though, the young child who received my marrow led a pretty normal life, going to school and playing basketball for more than a year after the transplant. At least he enjoyed that much more time in his life."

"Of course, we all hope each transplant will be a successful one. But we can't expect everything to turn out the way we wish." Lung Shih-chiang is a promoter of the marrow donation drive in Singapore . During his son's hospitalization for leukemia, he saw three blood disease patients pass away within one day. "It is true that unsuccessful cases make us sorrowful, but we have to remember the successful cases. We must struggle continuously for the chance to save lives in the future." That observation made by a doctor inspired Mr. Lung. That is what motivated him to promote bone marrow donation even after his son's death.

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