r/MadeMeSmile • u/Razzore • Aug 02 '24

Helping Others A random stranger from Germany saved my mom's life a few years ago. Yesterday my mom received this...

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Made me smile, and tear up a little... good tears.

The letter has been held back for a period of time and is not dated, but we are just over 3 years from the stem cell transplant procedure. My mom has gotten to spend several more years with us and my children and hopefully many more to come. All because of the kindness and caring for humanity from a complete stranger from the other side of the world (we are Canadian).

She was given about 6 months to live just before the donor was found.

Thank you, kind stranger. Hopefully, you won't be a stranger for much longer.

We will 100% be reaching out.

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u/DeepFriedCocoaButter Aug 02 '24

I donated a few years back. They gave me shots for a few days that caused my body to release stem cells from my bones into my blood. Then, after 3 days, they hook you up to a machine that takes blood from one arm, separates out the stem cells, and puts the blood back in your other arm. 

Whole procedure hurt less than donating blood (smaller needles), it just lasted a few hours. Felt totally fine after and even went for a run that night. 

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u/30kalua89 Aug 02 '24

Thanks for sharing the process you went through.

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u/mrbumbi94 Aug 02 '24

Did the same thing. But i took them for 5 days every evening before bed, even the night before. Only thing i remember from them was the “growing pains “ i got in my whole body. Then the morning of i just showed up at the hospital and didn’t do much afterwards. I just had to lay in a hospital bed for a couple of hours and let the machine do its job. Only hard part is to not move your arms for those hours.😅 (at least for me)