Plan C

Today was a BIG day for us. It started off in Radiology being fitted for lung guards. They put dots of ink under his skin in certain spots to mark where the lung guards will go when they do the full-body radiation.

We had a Doctor Consult today and they told us we are on Plan C or D (it’s really the last resort). It ended up that our “perfect match” had a medical problem with his blood and he can’t donate. They don’t want to use the 9/10 match because there will be A LOT of graph vs. host disease afterward. The only other choice is to do a double cord blood transplant. They have this tentatively scheduled for May 14th (Kellie’s 13th birthday).

So far they have one chord blood donor. It’s a girl who was born in March 2001 with A+ blood. She has a lot of stem cells and is a match. But they are having a harder time finding the second donor that has sufficient stem cells. The Doctors have some choices and they are just trying to choose the best one. Adult patients receive a dose of double chord blood because usually only one donor’s stem cells take. Some of the draw backs with a chord blood donor are; instead of grafting in 21-30 days it may take 60-80 days or more. So we will be in the hospital a lot longer. We probably won’t be allowed to come home right away until he is past the critical phase. We will stay in a condo five minutes from the hospital until he is out of the danger zone.

We won’t know how long before he can be around groups of people again. They said at least 6 months. Statistics imply that it may be closer to two years before he is fully recovered.  Of course, this is coming from Doctors which have not put the Lord in the equation. If the Lord wants a quicker recovery time, it's in his hands and that is the way it will be.  Once he does engraft, he will be on immunosuppressant drugs and possibly steroids which will prolong the recovery period.  One of the benefits of Cord Blood Transplants is less Graft vs. Host disease.  But the end result is a better prognosis. 

It looks like we are going to be on the cutting edge of medical science. This particular method of treatment is relatively new. There is one other woman that is a few weeks ahead of us undergoing a chord blood transplant at the same hospital. They are going to introduce us so we have a buddy to talk to.

Fundraiser: Bishop Mott would like to invite everyone including Seminary Students to a: Snow Cone and Cotton Candy Party, Saturday, April 17, 2010, from noon to 3:00 pm, at 751 N 520 E (Seventh St) in Tooele, Donations of $1.00 for Snow Cone or Cotton Candy. If health and weather permit, Brother Heder is going to come for a while and greet from a distance.