My Story

I had a great life, i was strong, great fit, great job, everything in front of me. I was about to send my swab test to hema-quebec, to be a possible donor. Than, during an annual check-up with my doctor, she told me that my red cells amount was a bit low. Time passed and it was getting lower and lower. More than 18 months passed by, energy always getting lower, sleeping more and more, searching for what was going wrong. After all this time and all these tests, 1 month before turning 30, doctor told me that a stem cell transplant was the only way for me to grow older than 40. All my plans and dreams suddenly disappeared. And it was the beggining of the longest and hardest challenge of my life.When you’re 30, you’re not thinking about spending a month in hospital beeing linked to some appliances 24/7, chemo treatments and hair loss. You’re not thinking about meds, beeing immunosuppressed, wearing masks in public places, avoiding people, beeing unable to do your daily tasks, not eating what you want and going where you want, fighting for your life.I’m considering myself like an incredibly lucky one. The one who passed through all of this with no complications (not even a cold), surrounded by an incredibly patient and loving boyfriend and family. The one who found not only 1 but 2 donors from international bank in less than 3 weeks. The one who, 3 years later, have almost the same daily life than before, working, planning and dreaming. Almost the same life, except for that new incredible blood brother i got as a reward for getting through all of this. Because stem cell transplant is not only a cell thing, it’s a human thing. I’m here to tell that everyone deserves a chance like mine. Everyone should have a compatible donor and should be able to focus on a single thing : having a second chance to live and dream.I’m here to tell people that being a donor is not only giving cells : it’s giving someone a second life.I’m here to tell that everyone should be a donor.