Dean Grainger had no idea a seemingly regular trip to Wal-Mart eight years ago would end up saving a life.
But it has.
After battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia since she was 6 years old, soon-to-be 9-year-old Sienna is finally able to live life as a child should – dancing, playing with friends at school and worrying about learning arithmetic instead of keeping track of her leukocytes count.
Sienna has Dean Grainger to thank for that.
“He literally saved her life,” Janette Braun said of Sienna.
During that trip to Wal-Mart, Dean Grainger registered with Be The Match, an organization that manages the largest marrow registry in the world.
“They just swab the inside of your mouth, fill out some paperwork and you’re done,” Dean Grainger said of his first time registering.
On Friday, Sienna was finally able to meet Dean Grainger. Sienna’s supporters, which include staff at Silver Lake Elementary, rallied $1,500 to pay for Dean Grainger and his wife to fly to Federal Way from Waco, Texas.
“I had to meet her, I had to see her,” he said. “She’s so sweet. I see all the videos of her getting her blood drawn – she’s just a kid scared of needles – and she’s had scars on her chest and that’s a horrible place, but those scars tell a story.”
In July 2015, Dean Grainger discovered he was the match to a little girl, although he wouldn’t learn it was Sienna until November of this year. He was one in 14 million people on the registry.
And deciding to donate was a no-brainer.
“He’s always done things to help people,” Dean Grainger’s wife, Sheila Grainger, said.
After paperwork, blood tests and samples, Dean Grainger spent eight-and-a-half hours donating his stem cells last October.
“It’s a long process,” he said, adding that once you start you can’t stop.
He then had to go through a series of injections for five days to replenish his red stem cells. They started to hurt after the third round, which were primarily given in the hips and chest.
“But they told me the injections I get, she’s going to receive the same injections so her body will accept them,” Dean Grainger said. “So if she can withstand that much pain and all she’s been through, then I can do it.”
Once the transplant was complete, Sienna and her family spent the rest of 2015 and all of this year catching up from the year she missed from her second bout of leukemia.
“Socially and emotionally, there’s a struggle, but physically, she’s doing amazing,” Janette Braun said. “I mean, everything’s pointing to amazing.”
Following the rule that a donor must wait one year before reaching out to who he or she has donated to, Dean Grainger learned who Sienna was about three weeks ago after requesting information.
From there, he got on Facebook and found the page “Sienna Strong Against Cancer” and “started scrolling” through posts that told her story.
“I thought it would just remain anonymous but when we found her picture, we fell in love instantly, both of us,” Sheila Grainger said. “We were tearing up just looking at her, so it was just awesome.”
Sienna’s dad said he and his family were excited when they got the news that the Graingers had reached out and even more thrilled when he learned that they were interested in meeting his daughter.
“I mean, what do you say to the person who saved your daughter’s life?” he said. “I mean, there’s just no words for that is there? I’m her father and I couldn’t do anything to save her.”
The plan is for Sienna to be off of her medications in June, which will be right around the three-year mark since she was diagnosed with leukemia.
“It’s been a crazy two-and-a-half years,” Josh Braun said. “A lot of ups and downs, a lot of very scary moments. You can’t take a breath. To this day, you can’t take a breath because you never know.”
Janette Braun said Sienna’s transplant is a trial, which means it often takes children longer to recover, but the Brauns “continue to live every day like it’s a blessing.”
Register to donate
The Graingers and the Brauns want people to know that there is a need for bone marrow and stem cell donations.
“It’s an easy process,” Dean Grainger said. “You do a little Q-tip swab inside the cheek of your mouth, send it off and keep your email up to date and information, and you might be a match.”
Janette Braun said there is also a need for men ages 18-24 to sign up because they have the highest cell regeneration and the highest possibility of recovery and staying cancer free.
Josh Braun encourages pregnant women to choose to donate their baby’s umbilical cords for stem cells and for African-Americans and Asians to register because “cancer doesn’t care what ethnicity you are” and society needs to “give those children a fighting chance too.”
To register to donate bone marrow or stem cells, visit join.bethematch.org/SiennaStrong
