The 2011 plans

John is slotted for a bone marrow transplant sometime in early 2011 (jan or feb). We've known about this possibility for quite a few months but took a while to line up all the game pieces. First, they had to determine that John's heart was healthy enough. Good to go. Then it was time to find a donor. (John's stemcell transplant was his own last year). They first tried his two sisters: Becky and Barb. Unfortunately, they were not compatible. Thank you for trying though Becky & Barb!!! So it was on to the national database. Right away a large handful of donors were hopefuls. Of course it was narrowed down and the actual donor has been determined.

No date has been given to us yet. Likely after the first of the year, more news will be given to us.

What we do know is this: the transplant will take place in Bethesda, Maryland. It'll be a 3 month process. Why is it out there? The procedure is considered trial still for T-cell Lymphoma - John's kind. It is highly successful for B-cell lymphoma and they are trying it for T-cell. So that's why the location is so. John won't necessarily be in the hospital the whole time, but needs to be in the area so he can be monitored by the cancer center.

So lots to come after the first of the year.
Our wish list: please pray for the donor to still be able to help us out; and for John to stay "healthy" until then; and to find a furnished place to stay in the Bethesda area.

regards,
Michelle

Merry Christmas!

Yes, It has been awhile since any of us has posted any news on this blog.
This past summer, it was discovered that the stem-cell transplant did not work. THe doctors considered the cancer "chemo resistent" even.

This fall, a newer chemo drug was found. So John has been taking that. It is not a cure but certainly helps keep the inflicted lymph nodes smaller. Unfortunately, it has it's side-effects. It makes John's platelet counts quite low, along with hemoglobin and such. So he couldn't get chemo every week. They then decided to just administer it every OTHER week so his body could handle it better. This one does not cause hair loss, which is great, because every man in Michigan in November likes to be all scruffy for the big deer hunt - which by the way was a successful hunt this year for John. Yay - there is venison in the freezer.