Blessings

     Today is officially the first day of Spring. As I look outside and see a clear blue sky and beautiful sunshine I am reminded of all the amazing blessings in my life right now. First being the fact that you can actually see the sun and blue sky today. I will never get use to the rainy weather here in Washington. I am thankful to have made a B+ in my anatomy class and finally be on spring break.
I got to sleep in this morning and just have a nice relaxing day at home. First time in a while I have been able to completely relax and enjoy the day. Looking forward to Thomas coming home so we can run and bike together in this beautiful sunny weather.
    One very special blessing God has placed in my life right now is the chance to be a bone marrow donor. In 2010 when I sent in a cheek swab to the Be the Match Bone Marrow Donor Registry I never thought in a million years I would get the amazing blessing of being an actual match. I am doing a new kind of procedure where they don't have to go and drill into the bone itself but get the marrow cells from my blood. So it ends up being a fancy way of donating blood in a sense. Four days before the actual donation I take a shot that helps my body produce the marrow cells faster and in excess and then on the fifth day I go in and the put a needle in each arm. One sends blood through a cell sorting machine so they can get exactly what they need from the blood and then send the extra back to my other arm. It lasts about 4-6 hours. There is some symptoms and uncomfortableness but as a whole it is really not that strenuous of a procedure. I get to watch movies and hang out with my mom while it all is going on. I am really thankful she gets to come and be a part of this with me. Another big blessing is that the National Bone Marrow Donor group is flying my mom out at no cost to her so that is AMAZING. :-) So April 11th is my official donor day. Super excited and prayers for the recipent and family would be wonderful. Ever since the process has started I have been praying for the patient. I know from different people in my life who have had to go through a bone marrow transplant it can be a stressful and scary time for the patient and the family.
    God is so amazing. How he created the human body and how he made us in the way that he did. I am so thankful to be able to get to be a part of the big picture. I feel so very blessed and am just in awe of God. Whenever I start to feel overwhelmed or pitiful me I start remembering the blessings. I am one blessed child of God.