I made a point to visit NIH soon after Hadi passed away because I didn't want the NIH to become a scary place that just was a part of my past. I spent 13 months of my life there. It doesn't seem like that long when I see it in writing but it definitely felt never ending. Yes, I can handle visiting the NIH but I am pretty sure I will do whatever it takes to not have to set foot in the Cincinnati airport again. As I write that, I kinda feel like Forrest Gump...I feel my body shake and I will leave it at-"That's all I have to say about that." I went out to dinner with two other AA (Aplastic Anemia) moms. In no way am I making fun of Alcoholism, but I do have to smile as I type "AA" moms. I became part of a club I never ever wanted to be part of but man, it just felt good to be around others who have been through the gut wrenching experience of hearing completely opposing theories from medical specialists. There were also two transplant patients at dinner. As I have mentioned, I could leave the world of bone marrow failure and transplants behind me but watching a beautiful child who has more courage in her pinky than I do in my whole body made me realize I will continue to push for more research, funding and physical donations and heck, if it means seeing what brilliant ideas Zakaria comes up with for his fundraising videos, that's all the more reason. Ya know what else was awesome about dinner last night? I made the two transplant patients take a picture together and yes, I would have liked Hadi to be in that picture but again, I can imagine that little grin of his when he heard that Sophia put nail polish on Travis while they were at NIH and Hadi saying he still wanted us meet his bone marrow donor because "she wanted to help me." That is why I know you will support Be The Match, to make sure there are enough bone marrow donors to help those searching and why I know you will also support AAMDS and the Hadi Abdur Rasheed Research Fund to ensure there are more success stories and a cure for the best that is Aplastic Anemia.
www.bethematchfoundation.org/goto/teamhadi
https://aamdsif.salsalabs.org/eoyp2pfundraisingcampaign/p/hadiabdurrasheedsresearchfund/index.html
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