“I can almost see it,
That dream I am dreaming, but there’s a voice inside my head saying
“You’ll never reach it”
Every step I’m taking, every move I make feels lost with no direction.
My faith is shaking, but I gotta keep trying, gotta keep my head held high.
There’s always gonna be another mountain.
I’m always gonna wanna make it move.
Always gonna be a uphill battle.
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose.
Ain’t about how fast I get there. Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side.
It’s the climb
The struggles I’m facing.
The chances I’m taking, sometimes might knock me down.
But no, I’m not breaking, I may not know it.
But these are the moments that, I’m gonna remember most, yeah.
Just gotta keep going, and I, I got to be strong.
Just keep pushing on
Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby it’s all about, it’s all about the climb.
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa”

As you all know by now, Shari needs a bone marrow transplant. In the last month, there have been four drives to help Shari and others like her find their match. In less than one month, Shari’s Mission has helped add close to 1400 people to the bone marrow registry in Canada. That may seem like an amazing number, and of course it is, especially to the over 800 people currently waiting for their bone marrow match to save their life.

This adventure is all about the numbers. For Shari, numbers relate to her levels when they are down, and she is neutropenic (An abnormal decrease in the number of neutrophils in the blood). That means it is very dangerous for her to catch any germs, infections, etc for her body is not able to fight off any infections, which is bad for anyone in her situation. But, when her numbers are UP, it means she has engery, can go for walks, can see her friends and family, can go out for sushi (yay for sushi), and means that she is getting stronger every day. Numbers….when Shari was in PMH (Princess Margaret Hospital) the numbers are put up every day after chemo, and we all waited…to see them start to climb which showed us that she was coming out of the bad times.

But now, the numbers means something different. These are the numbers that have been thrown around to me the last six weeks:
– about 27 million eligable Canadians in Canada, and only 250,000 are on the bone marrow registry.
– over 800 people are currently waiting for bone marrow matches
– there are many different types of cancers that need and require bone marrow for a patient’s survival.

The question is: how can we raise awareness to the need for people in our community, the city, the province, and beyond to step up and get tested to see if they can save a life.

One Match, is the arm in Canada for this. Once you are in their website (http://www.onematch.ca ) you can read about the who, what, where when why and how about blood services, stem cells and bone marrow. Why should I donate, How can I donate. It is very simple, you do it on line, and they mail you a kit, swab, and send it back….simple…BUT there are other ways as well.

I should also stress the importance of giving blood and platlets. I have a friend who is a regular platlet donor, and I can tell you that he is helping saves lives as well. Shari has had to have lots of blood and platlets to survive. So, every small part, is HUGE to someone else. More than I ever imagined.

As I said at the start of this post, Shari’s Mission (http://www.sharismission.com ) has been holding bone marrow drives and will continue to do so, until we find a match for Shari, and beyond, to help all the others.

Our next MAJOR event will be on Monday November 23rd from 4-9pm at Hava Nagila Banquest hall (1118 Centre Street in Thornhill). Shari’s brother Rob, is challenging the community at LARGE to support this event. Everyone needs to ‘pay it forward’ and come out to register. Plain and simple – PEOPLE NEED YOU!

I know that many people are already on the list from past drives for others in need. I understand that. But many of you are not. What YOU need to do is just pass this on, and let everyone you know, know about this. Let them decide if they want to help save a life.

I hope that you can do this. I hope that you agree that you can do your small part to help someone else.

I know that I am probably starting to sound like Jerry Lewis with my pleas for help for Shari and others like her, but it is all true. It is probably easier to help with a bone marrow drive, than it is to help find a cure for Muscular Dystrophy. I am not comparing…I am just sayin’…..

Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions, concerns, want to volunteer, want to know more about….whatever….if I know the answers, I will tell you. If I don’t, I will try to find out.