Category: Uncategorized
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It’s Been a Roller Coaster Lately
Lordy, have we been through one hell of a time lately. R was in the hospital for 11 days after he collapsed on November 4th (with zero warning). After trying for days to figure out what was causing all his symptoms such as fever, pain, worsening blood counts, night sweats,…
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Transplant Called Off for Now
We went to see the Director of the Stem Cell Transplant Division at the cancer center yesterday for a “hospital follow-up visit.” We weren’t sure what that meant exactly, but figured it was routine, since R was recently released from the hospital after a scary incident that occurred on November…
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It Was the Vice Principal and the Spleen in the Bedroom
Remember the game, Clue? “It was Professor Plum with the wrench in the kitchen.” I loved that game as a kid. Maybe that’s why I watch shows like Dateline and 48 Hours way too much. Anyway, you will recall that R woke up early in the morning on November 4th,…
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Process of Elimination
R is still at the University of Washington Medical Center. He’ll be here at least through Monday. His transplant has been postponed, tentatively, by 2 weeks. After all kinds of tests and theories, it’s still not completely clear what’s caused all of his recent medical symptoms/problems. He’s had erratic body…
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Unexpected Start
R’s chemo had been scheduled to start on November 8 followed by the transplant on November 14. He told the docs he’d do the first 3 days of chemo (when they administer the milder of 2 chemo medications) as an outpatient, meaning he’d be at home until the 11th. Well,…
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Info Overload
I wrote something here only 2 days ago, but we’ve learned a lot since the preparatory appointments & medical assessments began. The transplant team found R a different European donor who’s a 10/10 match. We knew they found a 9/10 match before, but the search continued, and they found a…
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And So It Begins
Little update here as we are now heavily into preparation mode for R’s transplant. Tomorrow, we meet with the finance team and a nurse at Fred Hutch. The following day we meet the transplant team–the doctor and others. After that, it’s constant appointments to check R’s health: ultrasounds, MRIs, heart…
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Minor Updates
Not a BIG update to my last post, but we’ve recently learned a few things: OCTOBER 21: Testing starts to check every conceivable part/function of his body to ensure he’s healthy enough for the transplant. NOVEMBER 5: Admittance to the hospital (University of Washington Medical Center) for 5 days of…
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The Plan Comes Together
The faculty at Fred Hutch/University of Washington decided R should get bone marrow stem cells from a young, closely matched 9/10 unrelated donor instead of his 69-year-old brother, a 10/10 match. HOW IS A DONOR CHOSEN? The deciding factor is how closely the donor’s immune system matches the patient’s. Doctors…
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To Transplant or Not? Depends on Insurance…
We had an appointment with Dr. Rachel Salit at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle this morning. We went in thinking that we wanted to move ahead with R’s bone marrow stem cell transplant, because he’s developed a new high-risk gene mutation called NRAS. This mutation means the disease is…
