Tim just happens to be a bone marrow match to a 48 year old male with lymphoblastic lymphoma. It's incredibly rare to be a match to someone who is not a relative, so it's pretty neat that Tim matches up so well. Three years ago Tim signed up to be a donor and about a month ago they called up my sister in Boise looking for Tim. I don't know how they got her information. She isn't even related to him, her last name is Perez, she only moved to Boise about two years ago, and Tim never gave out any information about her. So they were very determined to track him down! Anyway, they don't have to go through the pelvic bone anymore. It's still an option, but now they have what's called Peripheral blood stem cell donation (PBSC). After flying him down to L.A. for a physical, he will come back here and receive five injections of filgrastim. This will move stem cells from the bone marrow into the bloodstream. The side effects could be having a headache for seven days or just feeling like you have the flu, but still better than the alternative of having your hip ripped open! After the injections he will be flown to L.A. again for two days of four hour sessions of having his blood drained. For those of you who know Tim, he hates having blood drawn. So for him to commit to eight hours of it is going to be rough, but I'm really proud of him for doing this. I don't know of anybody who would say no to it, but still he's the one who's got to do it. Good Luck Timmy!!!
