Sunday, July 31, 2011

Continued Progress

Hi, everyone.

Just a quick update to let you know that all continues to go well with Nancy. She is through the first 100 days after her bone marrow transplant, which the doctors called the 'critical period'. She is driving, going to work part time, and no longer needs to have a caregiver around. Her stamina continues to improve, her weight is stable, she looks good, and her hair is growing back very nicely and evenly :-)

Her blood counts are still low, she is still anemic, as her bone marrow slowly builds back up. The biopsy a few weeks ago showed that her bone marrow is more than 98% genetically from her sister. So the transplant has taken. We already knew that, since she hasn't needed a blood transfusion since April -- she is clearly making her own blood -- and they are not seeing abnormal cells indicating any leukemia presence in her weekly blood samples.

Nancy is going to taper off the immunosuppressive drug over the next month, which will speed up the growth of marrow, and also increase the risk of a graft/host reaction. She is now going to the clinic once a week, and will be going once every two weeks (and they are removing her catheter next week!) However, we are not going to be able to visit her family cabin in Canada this year, and we are both a bit saddened by that. Her doctor does not want her far from state-of-the-art medical facilities as they taper her drugs off.

But all in all, we are doing fine, and life is starting to feel rather normal again, now that she is driving and running her own errands and going to work. We've gone out to dinner a few times, and while she is still avoiding big crowds, she's doing social things with friends. Call her up, make a date. Invite me too!

Love,
-tdc

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