New Years Day

"Just the Facts"--  B is very tired and cranky/edgy today.  He is on his fourth round of steroids for the throat cold he couldn't shake for 7 weeks, that allowed us to visit his doctor 3 times, ER 3 times and Urgent care 2 times all in 3 weeks.  Request for prayer for healing for that throat. Thanks!

Well, it's a new year and many unique and mysterious things to look forward to.  January is going to be a busy month for us, as B will be receiving his treatment for his condition.  He has been on medication since March that was an attempt to get the blood producing, but after careful and hopeful monitoring it was determined that the blood was not producing at all. About 4 months ago he was entered into the MUD search, (Matching Unrelated Donor) for bone marrow.  His brother, who was totally willing, was not a match, so this was the next step. You see, his transfusions are not quite keeping up....sometimes he goes in for blood in 9 days rather than 14 and a couple of times he has gotten 3 bags instead of the usual 2.  We have seen this slow progression over a few months, so the news that came mid November that a match was found was the most exciting news!  And not just any match this was a perfect match.

Donors in the registry provide blood cells that are typed for genetic markers.  There are 5 that are in pairs for a total of 10.  They look for a match range from 80 to100%.  B's donor matches 100% on all 10 genetic markers!  Yippee!  One additional tidbit is that, there is a virus about 70% of the population walks around with.  B does not have this virus in his body and neither does his donor, which just eliminates a complication.
Another wonderful blessing!

So, he needs to get a catheter inserted into his chest to allow for ease of infusion for meds and blood. This will stay in for 6 to 9 months, we get that on January 18, then on the 20th he is admitted to the hospital, and January 21, he begins the journey for the transplant.  See, first they have to kill all the cells he does have, yes we are talking chemo here,  we are sad about this, but it is what has to be done.  He will get nuked for 6 days and then on what they call day 0, he will get the new transplanted cells infused into his body.  These are smart super cells that migrate to the bone marrow and settle in to do their job in producing new cells.  B will be monitored constantly to assess whether the cells are doing their job and if anything is causing problems.  If all goes well he will be in the hospital for 3 weeks, best case scenario. He will be weak and have no immunities in his body, so they will fill him up with meds to suppress his immunity and try to guard against any infection.  The immunity meds will continue for almost a year, as they make sure the new cells are working hard to produce good cells and that no rejection happens.  So this is our prayer, that no rejections issues happen and that all the processes work as a best case scenario.

I know that was a lot, but there has been a lot to get us here.  We so appreciate your prayers for B and our family.
Until next time,
Hopeful Believer