Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
As few may know, my Mom was officially diagnosed with MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome), a pre leukemia blood cancer in March after enduring a couple months of testing and waiting. Shocking diagnosis to say the least as my mom is in good health and had not been experiencing any symptoms. This was only discovered during a routine semi annual physical.
Currently, the only cure for her type of MDS (there are like 7 subgroups) is to have a stem cell transplant. This option is not offered/available to everyone. She is in good health and has been deemed a candidate for transplant. We are thankful there is a plan of attack. This process comes with high risks and will be a long, daunting journey.
This week, she completed her 3rd cycle of chemotherapy in preparation. She has also completed 3 of 4 pre transplant tests. In 3 weeks, the 4th test, a new bone marrow biopsy will be performed to determine how the chemo has been working and to determine further treatment upon hospital admission. In 4 weeks, there will be the follow up appointment to discuss a calendar of events, procedures, etc. and likely in 5/6 weeks, she will be admitted for transplant. Of course, this could change depending on the stem cell donor availability. Two perfect 10/10 matches have been identified, donor A is a 29-year-old male and back up donor B is a 26-year-old female. Both are from the USA. We are all extremely grateful for the willingness and unselfishness of these donors and many others like them in the bone marrow /stem cell donor databases across the world.
She is likely looking at a minimum of 4/5 weeks in the hospital for pre and post transplant procedures, recovery and healing. Once cleared to be discharged, she will relocate in close proximity to the hospital on a temporary basis for daily/every other day hospital clinic checkups for weeks/months. Like I said, it’s a long and daunting process.
Any and all personal prayers, prayer chains at your church, healing thoughts, love and light, words of encouragement, inspirational messages, cards, advice, support, etc. that you can provide are absolutely needed and very, very much appreciated!!
Heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you for reading and following along. ✝️♥️🙏🏻
CaringBridge is a nonprofit social network dedicated to helping family and friends communicate with and support loved ones during a health journey. Learn more about CaringBridge.
