12/6/2009 - Bone Marrow Transplant

"For you formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them." -- Psalm 139: 13-16

These verses take on new meaning as I go through this journey. Prior to getting sick, I had very little understanding of the human body. Biology was one of my worst subjects in high school. Having to memorize the classification of plants and animals just squeezed all the fun out of learning about them. The most fun I had was when a classmate pulled a prank on a fellow classmate when we were dissecting a frog. I don't remember what I learned about frogs anymore, but I sure remember the prank. ha! ha!

In recent years, the desire to grow old gracefully and stay healthy increased my interest in learning about the body. Nowadays, I am learning a lot more about it - what leukemia is all about, the different types of blood cells, how to take care of myself while going through chemotherapy, what bone marrow transplant is all about, etc. I find the human body as a living machine quite amazing. My engineering background makes me appreciate man-made structures and machines that showcase design and engineering feats, so I watch Modern Marvels on TV sometimes. But no matter how grand, beautiful or complex the structures or machines get, they pale in comparison to the complexity and wonder that is the human body.

As you know, the doctor has recommended that I have a bone marrow transplant. This is the same thing as a stem cell transplant. Years ago, stem cells have to be suctioned out of the donor's bone marrow, hence the term "bone marrow transplant". These days, the procedure is simpler and a lot less painful. The donor is given medication to kick stem cells to the bloodstream. Blood is taken from the donor (think reverse blood transfusion), stem cells are harvested by a machine, and the rest of the blood is returned to the donor. I love technology!

The doctors want me to have a BMT because of the FLT3 cell that showed up in my first biopsy. FLT3 cells are known to stage a comeback years after the patient has been in remission. If FLT3 didn't show up, chemo treatments would have been enough for me. But because it did, there is a 60% chance that there will be a relapse if I don't go through a BMT, and a 50% chance if I go through BMT.

All my siblings were tested to see if any of them is my cell match. There is a greater chance that one of them will be my match, and there is also much less risk of getting graft-to-host rejection disease. The disease is the greatest risk in having a bone marrow transplant. Each of my siblings sent in their blood or saliva samples. Doctors use 10 main categories and many subcategories to determine if any of their cells matched mine. None did.

When I was being "woven in my mothers' womb" (weaving my DNA?), I got a certain percentage of my cells from each of my parents. The doctor said each of my siblings has a 25% chance of having the same percentage/formula, but none of them did. Who determines our cell composition? "For you formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb." "My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth".

Since there is no match among my siblings, the search is on to find a match from the national registry. The national registry contains the list of people in America who have agreed to be a bone marrow/stem cell donor. According to my BMT doctor, an initial scan showed many potential matches. The organization managing the registry will contact the potential donors to see if they are still interested. If they are, they will be interviewed and tested to see if they are still suitable donors, and if they are a match with my cells. How can I be a match to someone who is not even related to me? The doctor calls it "genetic pooling" - some "random" pooling of cells over many generations. What are the chances? I don't know, but I know Who knows.

"I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made". I know that my life is in God's hands, and only He knows whether I need a BMT for my healing or for shaping me more into the person He wants me to be. God knew I was going to have Leukemia even before I was born. He also knows who is/are my cell match. He also knows if there will be a drug or treatment that will make BMT unnecessary. He knows how this journey will end. "Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." What does He not know, and what can He not do? We can only follow God's leading in this journey.

I marvel at how God has been answering our prayers. I did not suffer from any side effects from the recent round of chemo. He has also protected our family from the flu virus even as people we know were catching it. And though I still feel tired more easily, I am strong enough to do most of the work my sister used to do while she was here. It helped that she left stuff in the refrigerator and freezer for me to heat up. My friend, Nora, also helped by preparing food that I an easily cook or heat up for the family. And my mother-in-law will be coming over to help us out starting the 16th of the month. We are all looking forward to seeing her. As usual, God provides everything we need in this journey.

Please continue to pray that I won't suffer from any side effects, for my complete healing, for my family to be protected from all forms of viruses and to keep our focus on God, for Rob and I to know clearly what God wants us to do regarding BMT, and for the doctors to have the wisdom regarding my treatment and care.

Thank you once again for your prayers and may God bless you and your family!