Writer dreams

Does anyone else have writer dreams? Usually I'm my real self in my dreams, but sometimes I get these cool ones that are a real story with a plot and mood and characters, etc. And in those dreams, I'm not "myself," but rather, I'm playing the role of a specific character in the dream. Last night I was 15, and my real-life youngest child was my little sister. We were mysteriously abducted to a cruise ship with a number of other children, and didn't know why, but of course we wanted to escape. There was a group of cute boys (maybe 5-6 of them), and my character-self thought they'd be great allies, but my author-self knew that they would turn out to  be useless, insensitive warts. On the other hand, there was a person my character-self was supposed to wait for who everyone was afraid of, but my author-self knew he would turn out to the be single most useful person in extricating everyone in the whole story. Hm. Maybe I think too much.

Tonight is the school Christmas program, which means kids are coming and going to practices all day. I should be cleaning the house, but really I want to crawl in bed with my WIP and work on it. I haven't written many words today, but I know where I want it to go, which is exciting. Look, if I can get 20-25K more I should have a draft. A very drafty draft, true, since as I write new scenes I realize which threads need to be completely bolstered from the beginning, and which scenes are useless and need to go. Which means that first rewrite is going to be huge. But 20K is not a lot of words, which should mean that once the holiday insanity dies down, maybe I can get some real progress done? I hope, I hope!

stem cell registration and how you can help

If you are wondering what kind of gift you can give for whichever holiday you celebrate this time of year, consider registering your stem cell type.

We have an extremely nice family in our neighborhood. The daughter is five and goes to kindergarten with my daughter. The son is two and goes to the day care below our apartment. They were both diagnosed last spring with an extremely rare blood disorder called fanconi anemia. Only about 1000 people in the world have it, and 300 of those live in Germany. This disorder not only makes them small and predisposes them to things like leukemia, it also causes a breakdown of blood cell production. It goes without saying that, without treatment, the condition is deadly. You can read more about it at http://www.fanconi.org/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanconi_anemia. The parents are facing the fact that they might lose both of their children. Luisa, the older one, is having weekly transfusions at the moment because things are not going well for her.

The way to treat the most pressing problem is a stem cell donation from a person with a matching type of stem cells. For the donor, this is a very simple process. You let 5 ml of your blood be drawn (a very tiny portion, for testing), and allow the typing to be registered. If you match someone, and if you agree to donate, you receive anesthesia while a small portion of your bone marrow is removed from the back of your pelvis. It's an outpatient sort of thing, and you will be sore for a couple of days, but that's it. It takes only 4-6 weeks for your body to completely replace your donation. (For the recipient, it is a much more complicated process, since their body has to accept it just as if it were an organ donation.) There is also peripheral stem cell collection, which just takes the stem cells. It works just like giving plasma, with you giving blood, having it run through a machine to separate out the relevant parts, and then run back into you. You can also donate stem cells by donating cord blood, should you be having a baby any time soon. For more information on the process, see http://www.marrow.org/. (In Germany, www.dkms.de).

If giving stem cells is just not in your future, but you are overrun with money, you can also help by making a monetary donation. Typing and transfusing is not free (the normal cost to be typed in Germany is 50 Euro), so if you are wondering what to do with your extra windfall, consider making a donation to help somebody else give their stem cells. Info on the marrow site.

I can't imagine looking at my kids every day and wondering if they will find a donor and if it will be in time. The family has looked all over in Germany and are now checking registries in the US. I know these kids personally, and there are others out there who I don't know who are also just as desperate. I have to put this out in case someone out there can help Luisa and Emil, or another person's child. Even if all you can do is pray, please do!

cord blood--an addendum

If you or someone you know is having a baby any time soon, don't toss the cord blood. Usually it's just thrown out. But the blood has important stem cells (not embryonic cells, but still, useful cells) that can be donated to help someone like Luisa or Emil. There is no extra pain, and the cord blood is registered as a one-time event, so you and your child aren't on any list anywhere. It's so easy--and it could save someone's life. Also, if you donate it to the public, there is no cost to you. (If you save it for yourself or a family member, I believe you pay the costs of storage yourself.)

If you are considering this, talk to your doctor by your 34th week to see if there is a collection center near your hospital.