Hyperhidrosis and Paperwork

A few weeks ago I went to a local arts festival. The weather that week had been lovely, cooler and rainy. It was pretty humid the day I went to this arts festival, but I thought it would be okay since the temperature was in the 70s. My husband and I were walking around looking at all the different artist booths. I saw a ton of beautiful things I could never afford, but it was fun to look anyway. At that point, I was keeping my cool. Then, this guy walks up to me and asks if I’d like to learn more about becoming a bone marrow donor. I said Sure, why not? Most of the time, I have a hard time saying no to people, which is something I’m continuously working on.

This time, though, saying yes was worth it. Remember when I wrote about coming from a place of yes? Becoming a bone marrow donor, as well as an organ and tissue donor (which I am already), is a simple process that can save someone’s life. Bone marrow donation, unlike organ and tissue donation in most cases, does not have to be done after someone has lost a life. You can’t take your organs and tissues with you, so why not give the gift of life to someone else? A piece of you can live on in them. In the case of bone marrow donation, you can actually have an opportunity to meet the person you are donating to, if the circumstances allow. How cool would that be? I would feel so honored and humbled to be able to help someone in such a dramatic way.

I followed the guy over to the DKMS Americas booth and spoke with another volunteer about the donor requirements and the process itself should I become selected as a match for someone. After reading over everything, I decided to do it. I went to the next table over and was given a long sheet of paper to fill out in duplicate. Now, I like to hand write things and fill out paperwork in most cases. But for people with hyperhidrosis, advance receipt of any required paperwork works better so that we can fill it out without anyone watching us and don’t feel rushed and panicky over drippage. I was okay for about the first 30 seconds, but the combination of walking around in the humidity combined with the public display of paperwork did me in. Thank God my husband was there, because he had to help me out and finish filling out the paperwork for me.

I don’t think anyone else noticed that I actually pawned off the pen duty to my husband, which was good. I was so embarrassed. After he completed my information, I walked to the next station. There, I rinsed out my mouth and swabbed some Q-tip-like things on the insides of both of my cheeks and placed them in an envelope. That was it. Super easy and so worth it for the change I might be able to affect upon someone else.

You can do this, too. Sign up to become a bone marrow donor. You could be someone else’s missing piece.