Journal entry by Heather Kilber —
It has been 1 year since transplant day! Can you believe it? Nicole is doing very well and is still in remission. We are very thankful that Nicole had a successful stem cell transplant and that her body has fully accepted 100% of the donor cells as her own. She now has doctors appointments months apart and is down to 6 pills a day because she is doing so well. Nicole has no dietary restrictions and is back to being able to eat and drink what she wants.
The Chemotherapy Nicole received for her transplant wiped out all previous immunizations since birth so she now has to get all of those shots again. In March, Nicole received her first of four rounds of shots. 1 round down, 3 to go!
Thank you all for keeping Nicole in your thoughts and prayers over the past year and a quarter of her cancer journey. Her support system means the world and we appreciate all of you.
If you are ever looking for a way to give back, we encourage you to donate blood (you don't realize how many blood and platelet transfusions Nicole went through) or sign up for Be The Match. We were lucky that Heather was a match when Nicole needed a stem cell transplant but others are not as fortunate to have a match within their family. Be The Match is an organization that everyone in good health can sign up for to potentially be someones lifesaving match. Multiple people in our family were inspired to sign up for Be The Match when they saw Nicole's journey. We hope others would be inspired to sign up as well. It is free and you could save a life :-)