Friday, March 21, 2008

Disappointment

Bad news: You're about to hear me sing. Imagine cats in heat, nails on a chalkboard, a screeching baby on a transoceanic flight... you get the idea.

Worse news: My donor fell through.

Video II- "If I Had a Real Good Donor": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYUFB542Iak


24 comments:

Leslie Edwards said...

Ladies...What a wonderful song! I thought you sang beautifully! I am so sorry that your donor fell through. Jennie & Brandy are trying to set up a bone marrow drive in Vegas, so I will keep you posted on that! I can't wait to see you next weekend! Lots of love & good thoughts for a perfect donor.

Anonymous said...

I have NO idea what to say. German Lady SUCKS!! But you sing pretty, and don't ever compare it to screeching birds or nails on a chalkboard. I'm a professional. I know these things!

By the way, I plan on stopping every multi-racial person I see on the street (I live in NY, that's a lot of people!) and saying "why aren't you on the donor list?!?"

MUCH love,
Avital

Unknown said...

We are all thinking of you.

Chris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chris said...

Hi Erica,

My name is Chris and I contacted you over email months ago after my wife Ann was diagnosed with leukemia and needed a transplant. Long story short she had her transplant using an expanded cord blood technique at MD Anderson, and now almost a year later is doing very well.

We both know how difficult it is to find a match when you are of mixed race. Ann started out with 26 possibles and day by day the list of potentials dwindled down to nothing. Eventually we had no other choice but to go ahead with the cord transplant.

If that is a direction your doctors feel would be beneficial then would like to help. We have accumulated lots of information on CBTs and would love to help you if we can.

www.anngregory.blogspot.com

Chris
dix123br@gmail.com

P.S. Love the singing

Anonymous said...

A friend of Erik Patterson's here and a bone marrow donor 20 years ago. Beautiful song, beautiful women. My thoughts are with you. Please, don't anyone hesitate to register; it's really quite simple and painless. And that was 20 years ago when I did it, I'm sure it's only improved.

Anonymous said...

my thoughts are with both of you Erica and Jaci... I checked the website, but as anticipated they won't allowed me to register (they want no type I diabetics :-(). that means that I will have to motivate at least some other people to do it!!!!! I WILL! good thoughts for THE perfect donor!! evelyne

Anonymous said...

All my love lovely ladies - well done with the BNL song!! :D So sorry to hear the disappointing news but have faith the future will soon improve.

Bone marrow drive at Fletcher (160 Packard Ave, Medford, MA) on April 2nd!! Come one come all!!

Love,
Addie

Anonymous said...

Erica, you are still such a great inspiration to me. I'm very sorry to hear that your donor fell through. I think about you and I check your blog every day. I wish I could register to be a donor, but thanks to my own history with cancer, they won't let me. :(

Keep up the smiles and the singing - it's all very beautiful!

Andrea said...

I just found your site somewhat randomly through facebook, but I wanted to let you know that I read your blog and saw your video, and now I am going to register to be a donor this week! I am going to get my friend who is half-Japanese to do it, too!

Anonymous said...

You both are great and the song too!
lots of good thoughts and positive energy.

a big hug,
Margherita

Unknown said...

Erica and Jaci,

I'm sorry to hear that! Pero por favor mantener la FE!
Bone Marrow Drive on April 2nd at Fletcher and as many as we have to do to find a match for you, amiga...
Our prayers are with you. Paciencia, Fuerza y Fe!

Hugs,
g and sisters michelle and raquel

Nancy said...

Disappointing isn't the word when a donor falls through. Nobody knows that better than I. After a 2.5 year search, my donor fell through. Then, a second donor fell through... what were the odds of that happening? Third times a charm.... maybe the others weren't meant to be. Nearly two years post-transplant, this donor was the ONE!!! I think your donor is around the corner, too. Keep thinking positive... You are beautiful, young & vibrant and a bmt, pbsc or cbt can and will happen. Hang in there... love the song! Contact me anytime if you like. My info is on my blog: nancysakakura.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Hi Erica!
We do not know each other but I have been following your blog for awhile now. Because of you, I have signed up to become a bone marrow donor. Sent my swabs and paperwork in last week!
Thinking, wishing, and hoping for you!
Kenzie

Abby said...

Love the video and have sent it far and wide. Five minutes after I sent the video out, a friend in Arizona posted it on her blog. Let the viral networking begin!

Hope to see you later this week.

Snogs,
Abby

WUCREW News said...

Erica
I have been keeping up with your blog for over a year or so and feel like I know you, but you don't know me. i thought why not share my life with you too :) www.wucrew3.blogspot.com

I am planning on having a donor drive for you in May after my second semester of graduate school comes to an end. I will be soliciting asian students on a local campus in Sacramento and wanted to know what mix you are so I could solicit more specific donors. I will send you the details or you can catch them on my blog.

Faith, Hope & Love!

Stephanie

Unknown said...

Hello Erica,

I was at the Dana Farber yesterday and Dr. Sirulnik asked me to check out your blog. I couldn't help to have this eerie feeling that I have been there before and let me tell you, it was quite a trip. Two years ago, I was diagnosed with AML and a year after chemotherapy, I had relapsed. Being a minority didn't help my case either (isn't strange that with over 2 billion Chinese ppl in this world, I could not find a match?) I had a tough time finding a match, a couple candidates came close but eventually they also fell through... Life sucked at that point, I didn't quite know what was next, I was lost, I was sad... but I never lost hope... eventually, I took on the suggestion from my oncs to go through a double umbilical stem cell transplant, where it was matching was easier. Today, one year and 2 months after my transplant, I am here telling you that it will be all worth it, just need to hang in there. Whenever you want a person to chat, feel free to email me... I will can tell you which nurses at the Brigham are nice :)

Cheers,

Jaime (jhluo76@gmail.com)

Jeannie said...

Erica:
You are so beautiful, I pray for you daily ( mostly on the freeway, Cathy gets prayers on the way to work and you get them on the way home!!!!
God has a masterplan for you, we just don't know it yet.

You humble me

Love
Jeannie Reveler ( Cath's sister)

Andrea said...

Hi again! So my friend and I are going to join the Bone Marrow Donor registry tomorrow. We are doing it in New York City. Is there any way to specify with them that we want them to test our marrow against yours for a match first? Or do they automatically compare it against everybody? Thanks!

Anna San Pedro said...

Hi mama,
I am sad to hear about the fallen through donor. You and Jaci look and sound beautiful singing, and it is so moving to see such an honest, brave and humorous response to life's challenges. I finally registered for the bone marrow registry. I am ashamed to say I waited so long... I have a freaky fear of causing someone a transplant rejection (ever since my mom gave her brother stem cells and they didn't take). But seeing the blogger comments from people who have had successful transplants warms my heart. I feel deeply certain that you are going to come out of this and do amazing world changing things. I love you and hold you in my prayers. xoxo

Anonymous said...

Erica-
Friend of Clif's here. Didn't want you to think I'm a creepy stalker :)

I wanted to let you know how much you're in our thoughts over here. You are a huge inspiration to me and I wish nothing less than a perfect donor, and am posting the donor site to any website I can to try to help out.

*big hugs*
-Shiny

Tamu said...

Hi Erica,

I love how you approach such hugely disappointing news with humour and wit. Your guitar-playing skills are great, and you have a lovely singing voice you shouldn't apologize for.

You are in my thoughts, but more importantly, I am taking action for you, too. You are a now another part of my attempt to get more people to register.

Tamu said...

Hi Erica,

I posted this on a related Facebook group, and someone I do not know wrote:

you and those two girls who sung "if i had a marrow donor" totally convinced me to register. i thought about it before, but you actually made me do it. just waiting for them to contact me now (to send me the kit)...hopefully it's soon
=)
best wishes


You have my best wishes, too. Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

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http://newteevee.com/2008/03/29/weekend-vid-picks-your-week-in-psas/

http://wyndebreaker.livejournal.com/

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/27/marrow-donor-drives.html

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=29875175175&oid=2264448175