East Bay Hike Team, SF Chapter
Hitting the trail at about 8:30 am I snapped a few quick photos of the morning fog beginning to burn off.
We quickly descended along the trail into the shaded forest (please note: descended!) and so began our 2.5 hour hike. Today's hike was the "buddy hike" - a much smaller version of the SF Chapter Hike Team (well over 35 people) with only 13 hikers all from the East Bay. Once a month we hike with our mentor and fellow local team mates; the other 3 weeks of the month we hike as a whole chapter. With in the first 10 minutes, the group slowly began to separate as we each discovered our own pace and comfort level with the trail.
Christina and I learned that we have a well matched pace on the trail, both flat and up hill so after carpooling and hiking together we had plenty of time to get to know one another. Hurray for making new friends!
The hike out was quicky, relatively easy, and was over before we could eat a Clif Bar. But remember the descent that I mentioned. The hike back was uphill - not very steep. But oh boy...it's a great way to wake up in the morning. =)
Finishing about 20 minutes earlier than planned, Christina and I enjoyed a delicious Builders bar that tasted like mint chocolate chip ice cream! I took a 3 hour nap when I got home. It's gonna be a fun season, ladies and gentlemen.
Things I learned today:
3. Trekking poles are uber useful.
1. What is a bone marrow transplant?
For years all I've heard about is the painful, absolutely horrible surgery a donor must endure in order to give their bone marrow to a patient. But I'll admit, I didn't know what the transplant actually was, how it was done, why it was done, and that the supposed "painful surgery" is no longer really necessary to donate. I learned today that a bone marrow transplant is simply the transfer of stem cells that have been taken out (through an I.V.), filtered through a machine, and then either given back to the same person to whomever you're donating the stem cells, too.
2. The steps of Bone Marrow and PBSC Donations
For patients, it's all about finding the right match. For someone that has many siblings or family members that may not be a challenge. But for someone that is a minority, an only child, perhaps adopted - finding a suitable match becomes more difficult and this is where the "Be the Match Registry" comes in. With a simple cheek swab, your DNA will evaluated to determine if you are a possible match for a patient with a blood cancer. You may or may not ever be contacted, but all it takes is a quick swab that could potentially in the future be the key to opening the door to saving someone's life.
For years all I've heard about is the painful, absolutely horrible surgery a donor must endure in order to give their bone marrow to a patient. But I'll admit, I didn't know what the transplant actually was, how it was done, why it was done, and that the supposed "painful surgery" is no longer really necessary to donate. I learned today that a bone marrow transplant is simply the transfer of stem cells that have been taken out (through an I.V.), filtered through a machine, and then either given back to the same person to whomever you're donating the stem cells, too.
2. The steps of Bone Marrow and PBSC Donations
For patients, it's all about finding the right match. For someone that has many siblings or family members that may not be a challenge. But for someone that is a minority, an only child, perhaps adopted - finding a suitable match becomes more difficult and this is where the "Be the Match Registry" comes in. With a simple cheek swab, your DNA will evaluated to determine if you are a possible match for a patient with a blood cancer. You may or may not ever be contacted, but all it takes is a quick swab that could potentially in the future be the key to opening the door to saving someone's life.
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