2/21/07 Day 42
I hate to do it but I have some bad news to report. Last night as Ann was being admitted into the hospital I started to get what I thought was a killer attack of hay fever. On the off chance that it was something other than allergies, I cut my visit with Ann short as soon as the Nurses had her situated in her new room.
On the way home I stopped and picked up some over the counter allergy meds. But they had as much effect on my symptoms as a mosquito trying to stop a 18 wheeler. Needless to say that by about 11:30 last night I was beginning to suspect that this was something other than allergies. That suspicion was confirmed this morning when I started a periodic and very productive cough. I jokingly call this "the Plague"
That's trouble for us. I mean I am happy it happened while Ann was not neutropenic and was being admitted to the hospital but, it sucks that for her own good I need to isolate myself from her. with any luck I will be able to get enough meds to knock this out by Sunday, which is when Ann is currently scheduled to be discharged.
This means that I will not be able to post any pictures of Ann until I get a "all clear" from the Doctors to be in the same room with her. However I did talk to her this morning. She said she is doing well and the attending physician on her floor was surprised to see her again so soon (he was the same one she had for round 2). Apparently everyone is surprised at how quickly Ann is progressing through the chemo.
If I can keep her infection free then I think we can continue to compress her treatment and leave only the minimum times between treatments. That should have the maximum effect on any remaining cancer cells and give us the best chance we can get for going into a BMT (as soon as a donor is located).
Ann also told me that she is having another LP today. It sucks that I will not be there to hold her hand while they insert the LP needle or inject the chemo. I have been there for all of them so far and being absent for this one feels like cheating.
I would like to take a moment to say a special thank you to Nancy Sakakura who has a blog at Nancysakakura.blogspot.com. Nancy had a similar blood cancer (MDS) that required a BMT, like Ann is going to have and she waited through 2.5 years to find a donor and is alive and well post transplant today. I can't tell you what an inspiration her story is to Ann and me. Nancy has also been kind enough to speak with us directly and is beautifully encouraging. If you have time please stop by her site and read about her experiences they are riveting.
More updates later today...
Update
Today is not the day for good news.
While I was at MDA checking on Ann's schedule I ran into the Stem Cell Transplant Coordinator that is doing Ann's BMT search. I of course asked her how the search was going and she told me "not as well as I would like". It seems that of Ann's original 26 possible adult matches, only about 4 remain to be investigated. Most of the 22 have turned up as "not available" which could mean that they declined to donate, are dead, moved and can't be reach or may have caught a disease that prevents them from donating. Some of the 22 that could be reached are not a close enough genetic match to Ann to be used.
4 chances left is not much at all. It makes me sick to my stomach when I think it might come down to that!
From what they are telling me it looks like Ann may have to use umbilical cord blood (UCB) for her transplant. I only know the general details on how using a UCB would differ from an adult source. There is less chance of GvHD, but also less chance that the graft will take. However Ann is small so that may not be an issue. It's complex, lots of "ifs" and "maybes".
Is this horrible news? The answer is I don't know. It is disappointing, especially considering everything else that has gone on today. It would be nice for once, to have a simple problem, that does not require special procedures or searching for trade-offs. But I suppose that is the nature of cancer, everyone's is unique.
We have a meeting with the stem cell transplant Doctor sometime next week. I will post the details about what we hear about the transplant afterwards.
Update
As a special plea to anyone reading this who is of Vietnamese/Chinese and Caucasian heritage. Please, Please, Please go and get marrow typed my Wife's life and many others depend on it!
All it takes is a swab of your cheek and 15 minutes of your time.
Please follow the links to one of the organizations and ask them what you need to do to be tested.
Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches
http://www.asianmarrow.org/
Asian American Donor Program
http://www.aadp.org/
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