Just over a year ago I was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia, a bone marrow failure disease. At the time, I had no idea that Friends of Allison even existed. My whole brain was focused on gathering enough information about treatment options to make a decision about where and how my disease would get treated. I quickly came to understand that the only cure for Aplastic Anemia that exists at this time is a bone marrow transplant. Medicines can put the disease into remission, but only a bone marrow transplant will cure it. That was very sobering information.

When I got sick I had to leave my job, a job that I loved dearly. I was a fifth grade teacher at Murch Elementary School in Washington, DC. I left my students after only four weeks of the 2003-2004 school year. We had just begun to come together as a group, and one of the things that upset me most about being sick was not knowing who would take over the education and care of my students. In hindsight, I can admit that it was probably too overwhelming to focus on how sick I actually was.

When I got sick, I had not anticipated the outpouring of concern, support, and love that I received. The thing most people wanted to know was how they could help.
One parent of a former student heard about what was going on with me and she called to ask if it would be okay with me if she tried to organize a bone marrow donor drive in my honor. I told her it was fine with me, but I wanted to be sure that people understood that I wasn't definitely going to get a bone marrow transplant. Even as I received treatment for the Aplastic Anemia, I wasn't focused on bone marrow transplantation. We knew that my sister was not a match for me, so I was determined to get better with the help of the medicines available to me. Though I understood that if the medications didn't work, a bone marrow transplant would be the next option.

I honestly don't know the details, but Murch parents, staff, students, and alumni worked extremely hard to organize and hold the two-day Murch Marrow Drive in early December last year. They brought food, helped distribute forms, offered baby-sitting services, and generally made the drive a success. Close to 200 people were added to the National Marrow Donor Program at this drive. Members of my family attended the donor drive at Murch and my mother organized a second drive in New York City this past January. At the New York City drive, over 100 more people were added to the National Marrow Donor Program. In New York, as in Washington, DC, people whom I knew and those I didn't volunteered their time to work at the donor drive. Funding for both of the drives was provided by Friends of Allison.

It seems impossible to convey in words how much both of those drives mean to me. The fact that people were so willing to help me is most amazing. I couldn't attend either drive because I was too susceptible to infections at the time, but I heard that people were willing to wait in lines for over 3 hours just to become members of the National Marrow Donor Program. My family brought me cards and good wishes from the people who attended both drives. In New York, friends of mine from elementary school through college turned up to be added to the Registry. Even more surprising to me was the number of strangers who wanted to help. That kind of generosity, when it is focused toward you, is flabbergasting! That people could be motivated by my situation to become life-savers is so heartwarming. I consider each and every one of those donors a hero.

That's the thing about becoming a bone marrow donor; you really could save someone's life. Though I can not give blood or become a member of the National Marrow Donor Program myself, I understand just how much these two acts can mean to a person, their family and friends. The people who give blood and join the National Marrow Donor Program are life-savers. I know because I was kept alive last year by transfusions.

As for me, the treatments I received seem to have worked. In May of 2004 the Aplastic Anemia was determined to be in remission. I will continue to be monitored to make sure that the Aplastic Anemia is under control. For now, I'm trying to resume some of my old activities and get my life back to normal. One new activity I'm taking up is the organizing of bone marrow donor drives and blood drives. I feel compelled to carry on the hope and generosity I received when I was sick.

I want to thank Friends of Alison for funding the two bone marrow donor drives that were held in my honor. I know that one person who became a member at those drives has already matched with a person in need of a bone marrow transplant. I think that the work Friends of Allison does is truly a tribute to the kind of person Allison was and the legacy she left in her family and friends. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

With gratitude,

Deborah Ziff Cook


friends of allison PO Box 34497 W Bethesda MD 20827 ph/fax 301 468-5575

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