7/24/2010 – Transplant Work-up Begins

We received the donor clearance yesterday. This means that the donor has passed all the physical exams. We can now expect to use his stem cells for my transplant. Thank God. May God bless the donor for his selfless act!

The transplant schedule begins with a "work-up" that lasts 11 days. I am being given medication for 3 days to thicken my mouth and GI lining. This will reduce the chances of getting mouth sores and GI tract disorder due to radiation and chemotherapy. The grueling part of the work-up begins on Tuesday, 7/27, with 11 rounds of low-dose radiation spread over 4 days, followed by 2 days of high-dose chemotherapy. I was warned that I may be fatigued that week. This will be followed by more medication to suppress my immune system. There is a laundry list of potential side effects and risks with all the treatments and medication. Gulp! It was scared when I first heard about them.

August 4 is the day when I will be given stem cells from the donor via IV. It only takes a few hours, but it will change my life forever. I was told to expect to stay in the hospital for about 6 weeks from 8/4. The hospital will once again be "home" to me for a while.

Once the transplant is done, it is all about damage control. The medical team will be managing side effects and any Graft versus Host Disease (GVHD) that may occur from the transplant. Anything and everything can go wrong depending on the severity of the GVHD. It can even be fatal. As usual, my blood count will go down to nothing and I will be susceptible to infection. Multiple blood and platelet transfusion can be expected. The coming weeks may be the toughest weeks in my life. I can use all the prayers I can get. Please pray that the treatments and medication will not have side effects, and that there will be minimal rejection (GVHD).

The critical period for the transplant is 100 days. Most problems occur within 100 days of the transplant, so please keep praying for me until at least mid-November. Longer is better, of course. :-)

The official term for what I will be going through is "hematopoetic transplant" (a.k.a stem cell transplant). Hematopoetic transplant refers to the process of kicking the donor's stem cells to his blood through medication, doing a reverse blood transfusion to collect the blood, harvesting the stem cells, and returning the blood to the donor via blood transfusion. It is all very amazing and high-tech. The stem cells are then flown to the US and given to me via IV. It is all very amazing and high-tech. Thank God for technological advances in medicine. But most of all, thank God for people who have signed up to be donors. What a blessing they are!

I am feeling much better since the last couple of days. I try not to think of all the things that could go wrong, and just focus on what's going right each day. I can only take things one day at a time, and hope and pray for the best. I made some progress on the harp. Katie learned to play a few pieces, too. Ellie brings me her projects from summer camp everyday, so now my room looks like her art gallery with a few contributions from Katie! No complaints here. My room looks cheerful with all their artwork. Once again, I am so thankful that we live close to the hospital so I can see my family almost everyday.

I lost my room with the mountain view, because they had to move me to the transplant floor. At first, I felt sad not to have a the full mountain view from my new room. But when I realized that I have a partial mountain view anyway, plus I can see trees in Arcadia and a view of the buildings in downtown LA, I was happy. It feels like I am somewhat connected to my family when I look at the trees in our area, and to Rob when I see the building he works in in downtown LA. Perhaps I can send them my love through the air or via mental telepathy. :-)

That is all for now. You don't know how grateful I am for all your prayers. Just knowing that there are people out there interceding for me and my family is such an encouragement. I believe in the power of prayer and the goodness of God.

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