*update* matching donor, back in the hospital

Hi Everyone,

To all those that haven’t yet heard the news – the transplant team found David a matching donor! We’re very happy, but also very scared... Things are moving fast. David was readmitted on Thursday after a barrage of pre-transplant exams and tests that were scheduled over the past few weeks – all of which he passed. His hair started to re-grow last week and he (was) feeling quite good overall.

Although we weren’t able to get back to Nanaimo for more than 48 hours due to an unrelenting series of medical tests/check-ups treatments etc, we did manage to get away for a few days to reflect on everything. We returned to a full house – 7 members of David’s family flew in from Quebec and my aunt and uncle from Ontario. With overwhelming support from friends and family we were married on Saturday. The day meant more to us than we (I) could have ever expected. There were so many people that came together to make it happen – I don’t even know where to start. It was beautiful, fun, emotional, unpredictable and fit our style perfectly. We may have made a few of you cry, but pretty sure we also made you laugh (yes we switched our rings to the ‘correct’ hands)...

Beautiful day.

 



Dinner out. We escaped on the first night.

 We sent off the last of the family on Tuesday and packed in medical appointment after medical appointment, often two a day, all last week. Thursday was a rough day - three (rather stressful) appointments followed by scheduled afternoon re-admission to the hospital. By lunch we realized we had underestimated the emotional upset of returning to the hospital but we made it (thanks Damian) and were even allowed out for dinner on the first night which was a welcome surprise.

So right now, David’s on day 3 of 3 days of pre-transplant chemo. He’s just started to gain weight (fluid) and has short bouts of nausea. The real challenge is keeping sane, being mentally prepared, and keeping the positive thoughts flowing (we need you guys, and thanks for all the support!). The chemo will be followed by 3 days of TBI (sounds better than ‘total body radiation’ which is just plain scary). The donor will provide marrow on the last day of TBI (June 17th) and the fresh marrow will be escorted in person by a transplant coordinator and directly transplanted into David in as little time as possible. Right now he’s being pumped full of precautionary mediations to minimize damage caused by the chemo, the radiation, the transplant.


First night back. Really, do I have to do this?

If you want to, please call or email. It’s an emotional time, but we don’t want to get stuck in our heads, we want to hear from you. We'll do the best we can to explain what's going on. We ask, if possible, for you not to ask lots of questions about the procedures, the drugs – it’s very complicated, overwhelming and very difficult to discuss – if you want to know more, try the BMT website: http://www.leukemiabmtprogram.com/ . The doctors and staff we are surrounded by are experts in all of this - we’re just along for the ride. Bar down, arms up, eyes closed and screaming the whole way. We just want to smile, laugh if we can – hear about your normal lives – we’ll deal with ours one day at a time.

We can be reached at the hospital or email. Sorry if we can’t talk when you call, or don’t answer if you email. We appreciate every word. We expect things to go quickly in the next few days/weeks. I will keep you up to date with emails more often than I have been.