cancer sucks.
I've lost an aunt to it. my pastor's first wife died because of it. my roommate from college lost a shoulder and an arm because of it, so did a public relations colleague. my friend Natalie battled bravely, but ultimately succumbed to cancer. like I said, it sucks.
now I have another friend battling the dreaded C. i'm devastated, but i'm not giving up, and neither is he.
zach entered my life about six years ago. he was a 20-something who was wiser than his age. he and his wife, savannah, were part of a church small group lisa and I led for for a few years before the pandemic swept in and dismantled our lives so completely.
zach and savannah were were a key ingredient to the glue that held our group together. savannah's gift for organizing people and motivating them to action ensured we met regularly with plenty of food to eat, and her love for celebrations and holidays ensured there was plenty of laughter at our group parties. zach and savannah are the kind of couple who come to a party armed with gift cards, gag gifts and competition games -- like the year the prize gift was wrapped into a ball of plastic wrap about the size of a basketball. each guest had to attempt to unwrap the gift, the ball getting smaller and smaller until the prize gift appeared. all along the way, the attempts to get to the prize were rewarded with pieces of candy and other treats. I remember thinking that year that savannah probably spent as much on plastic wrap as she did the prize gift.
we studied scripture together, worshipped together, wept together, laughed together, ate together and prayed together.
a couple of years ago, zach began having some skin issues. red, itchy scaly skin appeared on various parts of his body, even his palms and soles. zach went to several physicians for treatment. the medical professionals used their best training to try to help what looked like atopic dermatitis or eczema, but the effectiveness of the treatments were short lived. he finally got some prolonged relief from some strong steroids. his skin calmed down and was no longer red, but when it he discontinued the steroids, his symptoms came roaring back with a vengeance, like a hungry lion after his prey.
about a year ago, zach go the diagnosis. he has cancer -- cutaneous t-cell lymphoma (ctcl). i won't ever forget the day zach told me. he asked me to meet him for coffee. honestly, if i hadn't known i was supposed to meet him, i'm not sure i would have recognized him. his skin was angry, swollen, inflamed and scaly, even his face and scalp were involved.
zach's cancer is extremely rare, and it's advanced -- stage four. he and savannah have sold everything they own and moved to houston, texas, where zach is being treated at m.d. anderson in preparation for his stem cell transplant, the only cure for this kind of cancer. he can't work any longer. savannah has taken a remote veterinarian tech position to keep some money coming in. there's a go-fund me account set up for them. you can help them financially by visiting this link.
but there's something more you can do. three churches are hosting donor drives next sunday, oct. 1, from noon until 4 p.m. if you don't live near one of the churches, I'm asking you to go to dkms.org and find a way you can be tested. the drives are at the following churches:
the church on liberty square in cartersville
worldview church in cedartown
hbcrome in rome
the process is as simple as a cheek swab. your dna will be entered into an international database for people willing to be stem cell donors. if you're not a match for zach, you could be a match for someone else anywhere in the world. if you are a match, donating stem cells isn't much different from giving blood.
I'm putting a lot of effort into helping with the drive, driven by my love for zach and savannah, and driven by the fact that i can't be a donor. stem cell donors can't be younger than 18 or older than 55. people with diabetes, lupus or who have been treated for cancer also cannot give, but that still leaves a whole lot of people out there who can. i hope you're one of them.
there are times in life when you literally can't do anything about a situation. you have to play with the cards you're dealt. this is not one of those times. you can be tested. you can be a donor for someone who needs your stem cells to live. it's hard to imagine anything more noble that you could do for someone.
finding a match for zach is a lot like that plastic wrap game savannah brought to our christmas party. somewhere within the layers and layers of people who agree to be tested to see if they are a match, there is a match for zach. it's the ultimate gift, and you can give it.
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