Happy Bandana Day!!

So, today is Bandana Day. It's a day many South African's ignore, but to us, it's a day that reminds us each year just how lucky we are to have a father. Bandana day is organised by the Sunflower Foundation (http://www.sunflowerfund.org.za/), which assists in raising funds for leukemia patients.

Globally, there are just not enough bone marrow donors and the chances of finding a compatible donor are, therefore, very small!! The Sunflower Foundation has assisted in increasing the number of registered South African donors from 1,200 in 1999 to just over 63,000 today!! Because the chances of finding a compatible donor are just 1 in 100,000, the number of donors needs to be increased up to 100,000 for the registry to be effective. In addition to this, ethnics also play a huge roll in finding a perfect match and as we live in such a diverse country, according to The Sunflower Foundation, we need to have approximately 400,000 registered donors in order for this system to work effectively in South Africa. Since tissue type testing is a relatively expensive procedure, from which you may never see a result, many people choose not to be tested. I am registered as a donor - 1 in amongst those 63,000 South Africans - and when I registered about 5 years ago, it cost me about R400 to be tested. Many South Africans don't have this kind of money to give away, which is where the Sunflower Foundation comes into play. They've raised over R4M towards testing and continue to do amazing things to improve the chances of finding that perfect match, should the need ever arise. And think about it - what is R400.00 now?? Imagine that it's your child is diagnosed with a life-threating blood disease and that he/she can only be saved by means of a bone marrow transplant? Imagine there is no compatible donor...

As many of you know, my dad was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_myelogenous_leukemia) in July 2007. He underwent extreme chemotherapy and radiation (up to an hour full body radiation at a time!!) under his amazing heamotologists - Dr Du Toit & Professor Jacobs and their team of nurses (or angels as my mom calls them). They literally took him to death's door and then brought him back to life again. Fortunately, my dad's brother, was a 100% match and was more then happy to donate his bone marrow to save my dad's life.

I remember visiting my dad in the isolation unit. It was a nightmare. Since his treatment meant that he had absolutely no immune system, we weren't allowed any where near him if we had so much as even a tickle in our throats. We had to go through a special section of the hospital, change from our normal clothing into hospital gear and we had to wash our hands and arms before we were allowed to go through into the isolation area. At times, because of the radiation, my dad was literally burnt right through. He couldn't talk, he couldn't eat, he was skin and bones and he was frail. There were days when he looked like there was no ways he could possibly survive, yet, somehow, none of us believed that he would die. And he was positive from beginning to end. I'm sure there were days when he thought there was no ways that he could take any more, but he did and he has come through this ride a champion. A hero to our family. While he has had a few setbacks along the way, he's all clear and it's been 10 years now since he had his bone marrow transplant!! Go Dad!!

Anyway, I must get back to work. Here's a shot of Jake wearing his bandana (or bandanna as he calls it) in celebration of Bandana Day. In celebration of life and in the hope that our small donations might help make a collective difference. By the way, he's pulling a special pirate's face for the camera...

Lots of love,

Sue xxx

PS. Tomorrow's Heritage Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_Day_(South_Africa)) and a public holiday for all South Africans. It's also National Braai Day (BBQ Day) - I hope that you all have a fabulous day off with your family and don't forget to light the fire!! Enjoy!!