Journal entry by Naomi Staker —
Hello Everyone!
It's been awhile since I've done an update on here.
July 23rd I was supposed to be admitted for my stem cell transplant but instead I got a PET scan and I met with my doctor. I woke up with knee pain a few days before my appointment but didn't think anything of it until one morning I woke up and my lymph nodes were swollen. The PET scan on July 23rd showed that my cancer was back and that my body was not responding to chemotherapy. After seeing the results my doctor said that if we went through with the stem cell transplant I wouldn't be in remission for very long after transplant and it was time to take a different route after failing two types of chemotherapy treatment.
The protocol that we are doing now is called CAR-T cell therapy. It's where they harvest your white blood cells and genetically modify them to specifically go after lymphoma. I was waiting about a month for insurance to approve treatment. The nurses asked me to sign a HIPPA form to release my medical records to the governor and within 72 hours I was approved to get started with treatment. Very grateful for all the nurses and doctors that helped put my case in the right hands to be approved. I would continue to see my doctor on a weekly status making sure the lymphoma wasn't getting out of control until I was admitted for treatment.
September 3rd, 2020 was cell harvest day! My sister Beka took me down to the University of Iowa to the DeGowin Blood Center and I spent the morning hooked up to a machine that took my blood out of one arm, the machine would spin it and take the white blood cells, and then the blood was given back in my other arm. They sent my cells off that day and the cell modification process takes up to 3 weeks.
September 23rd, 2020 I was admitted for my stay at at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. For CAR - T cell treatment I was given 3 days of chemotherapy just to suppress my immune system enough to make room for these new cells that have been modified. Today and tomorrow (September 26th & 27th) I will be resting and staying on top of nutrition and fluids. On Monday, September 28th, I will be getting my new cells! From there the doctors will monitor me for about a week and once I show no side effects and my white count increases I will be released. Thirty days after transplant is when I will have my next PET scan, but I will continue to see my doctor on a weekly status for blood work and making sure I'm doing okay. I also will not be able to drive 6-8 weeks after transplant. My sister will be staying with me when I get home and will be my caretaker until I am comfortable with being by myself.
As always, thank you for your love and support and I will continue to keep everyone in the loop. I'm very much looking forward to life after all of this and to be able to get back to work and have some sort of normalcy. But of course we take each day as it comes and celebrate the little victories along the way. :)
- Naomi
It's been awhile since I've done an update on here.
July 23rd I was supposed to be admitted for my stem cell transplant but instead I got a PET scan and I met with my doctor. I woke up with knee pain a few days before my appointment but didn't think anything of it until one morning I woke up and my lymph nodes were swollen. The PET scan on July 23rd showed that my cancer was back and that my body was not responding to chemotherapy. After seeing the results my doctor said that if we went through with the stem cell transplant I wouldn't be in remission for very long after transplant and it was time to take a different route after failing two types of chemotherapy treatment.
The protocol that we are doing now is called CAR-T cell therapy. It's where they harvest your white blood cells and genetically modify them to specifically go after lymphoma. I was waiting about a month for insurance to approve treatment. The nurses asked me to sign a HIPPA form to release my medical records to the governor and within 72 hours I was approved to get started with treatment. Very grateful for all the nurses and doctors that helped put my case in the right hands to be approved. I would continue to see my doctor on a weekly status making sure the lymphoma wasn't getting out of control until I was admitted for treatment.
September 3rd, 2020 was cell harvest day! My sister Beka took me down to the University of Iowa to the DeGowin Blood Center and I spent the morning hooked up to a machine that took my blood out of one arm, the machine would spin it and take the white blood cells, and then the blood was given back in my other arm. They sent my cells off that day and the cell modification process takes up to 3 weeks.
September 23rd, 2020 I was admitted for my stay at at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. For CAR - T cell treatment I was given 3 days of chemotherapy just to suppress my immune system enough to make room for these new cells that have been modified. Today and tomorrow (September 26th & 27th) I will be resting and staying on top of nutrition and fluids. On Monday, September 28th, I will be getting my new cells! From there the doctors will monitor me for about a week and once I show no side effects and my white count increases I will be released. Thirty days after transplant is when I will have my next PET scan, but I will continue to see my doctor on a weekly status for blood work and making sure I'm doing okay. I also will not be able to drive 6-8 weeks after transplant. My sister will be staying with me when I get home and will be my caretaker until I am comfortable with being by myself.
As always, thank you for your love and support and I will continue to keep everyone in the loop. I'm very much looking forward to life after all of this and to be able to get back to work and have some sort of normalcy. But of course we take each day as it comes and celebrate the little victories along the way. :)
- Naomi
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