22 May BMT Journeys: An Invitation to Transplant Recipients to Share Their Experience
BMT Journeys: An invitation to transplant recipients and their caregivers to write about and share their experience
Medicine may heal the body, but art and writing can heal the soul. Reflective writing and creating art about your experience with cancer may help you cope with your recovery. For many people, writing and art provides a way to express deep thoughts and feelings about an experience, or make meaning out of an experience.
Reflective writing can help you and others
For Ted, a blood and marrow transplant (BMT) recipient, he decided to write about his transplant experience for personal reasons. “I had come to a point in my life where the memories of and lessons learned from my struggle began to fade. I did not want them to. Revisiting those days and subsequently writing about them seems to be the best way to “re-ground” myself,” says Ted.
But did you know what you write and create can also help future patients and caregivers? Wendy, a transplant recipient, blogged throughout her experience. She says, “To this day, I meet people who tell me how much my honesty through my journey helped them with what they were going through. I did it for me, but it helped others.”
Share your original work of written or visual art
The Be The Match®Patient Support Center invites all BMT recipients, caregivers and parent caregivers to submit an original work of written or visual art inspired by their transplant experience. This may include a story or poem in English or Spanish that is up to 1,000 words, a painting, drawing or photograph. Be The Match will publish a free print and online book of submissions near the end of 2018.
You can participate if you’re a:
- Recipient of any type of BMT, including allogeneic (unrelated or related donor), autologous, haploidentical, stem cell, umbilical cord blood.
- Caregiver or parent caregiver of someone who has had any type of BMT.
People younger than 18 years old must have parent or guardian permission.
Visit BeTheMatch.org/BMTJourneys to learn more and share your story.
Writing can stir up emotions
It’s not uncommon to feel sad or down when you reflect on and write about your experience. “I was hesitant to cast myself back into the darkest days of my life,” says Ted. But it can bring good feelings, too. Ted notes that he “also wanted to relive the hope, the joy, and the love” from that time as well. The Be The Match Patient Support Centerstaff can support you and help you cope with the feelings that may be stirred up as you reflect on your transplant journey.
Call: (888) 999 – 6743
Email: patientinfo@nmdp.org
Visit: BeTheMatch.org/one-on-one
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