I am constantly reminded of the compassion and\u00a0spirit of\u00a0generosity\u00a0of our Fort Hays State University students.\u00a0I\u00a0love hearing\u00a0the stories of how they are impacting the lives of others every day.\u00a0Emily Schulte,\u00a0Hays,\u00a0is one of those stories.\u00a0As she sets her sights on a path to medical school after her FHSU graduation,\u00a0Emily\u00a0put herself on the patient side of the bone marrow donation process in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emily is soft-spoken and known for her humble nature. As a biology major and student employee of FHSU\u2019s Health and Wellness Services, Emily made the decision as a freshman to become a bone marrow donor when she worked at a Be the Match bone marrow drive on the FHSU campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the drive, a DNA sample was swabbed from\u00a0Emily\u2019s cheek,\u00a0sent\u00a0to Be the Match,\u00a0and\u00a0then\u00a0added to a national registry list.\u00a0After waiting three years,\u00a0Emily\u00a0was notified last fall\u00a0that she was a potential match for\u00a0someone in need of a\u00a0transplant.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA large part of what motivated me was to be able to say that I gave someone the gift of life,\u201d Emily said. \u201cAlso, to understand the donor process and know what donors go through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor me, I didn\u2019t have any doubts about doing it. I got called (from Be the Match) and knew that whatever I had to do, I was going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be the Match flew Emily and her mother to Chicago in January, where her bone marrow donation, which she described as similar to a lengthy blood donation, took about 4 \u00bd hours. Prior to the donation, filgrastim injections were performed to stimulate stem cell production, enabling Emily\u2019s donation to have an above-average stem cell quantity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a student preparing for a medical career, Emily did some of the preparation work for the donation on her own. Her coworkers at FHSU\u2019s Health and Wellness Services assisted her in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI definitely also had a really good support system, from both my coworkers and Be the Match during the preparation process,\u201d Emily said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be the Match funded the flight, transportation, meals, and lodging for her and her mother during the trip. From their flight to Chicago to their flight back to Hays, the trip took the pair three days. The whirlwind travel and donation process were physically exhausting for Emily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHonestly, I felt like I got hit by a bus. But within two to three days after the donation, I felt pretty much back to normal,\u201d she said. \u201cThey (the medical staff) want you to hydrate and rest and take care of yourself. I didn\u2019t have any bad side effects after or before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emily received a text saying her donation had been sent to the patient\u2019s hospital within a day of her donation. She will be allowed to contact the recipient anonymously if she chooses. After a year, though, she and the recipient can exchange contact information. She hopes to meet the recipient with whom she shares this special connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emily inspires those around her to consider donating bone marrow or contributing to an organization that provides that service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would tell them that despite any doubts you might have, go through with it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is a really unique opportunity. The best gift you can give someone is a second chance at life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is exactly why Fort Hays State is such a special place.\u00a0Our students who are willing to step out of their comfort zones to ensure a future for others\u00a0give\u00a0me tremendous hope for the future. Thank you to Emily and all those who\u00a0choose to make second chances possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I am constantly reminded of the compassion and\u00a0spirit of\u00a0generosity\u00a0of our Fort Hays State University students.\u00a0I\u00a0love hearing\u00a0the stories of how they are impacting the lives of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12323,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=72866"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72867,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72866\/revisions\/72867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=72866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=72866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=72866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}