We got the call that we had been waiting for from Vanderbilt today. Dr. Savani's proposal to the other transplant doctors regarding Mary Jo's case was accepted. She begins preparation for the transplant on Monday, April 29th, as planned. She will have appointments beginning at 8am, and a PET scan at 1pm.
The purpose of the pre-transplant PET scan, I found out, is to provide a base line for comparison with a post-transplant PET scan that will form the basis for determination of success/failure of the procedure.
We are happy that we will be able to proceed as planned. It has been good being home for a few days. But, the sooner we get this process under way, the sooner we get home for good.
We are fortunate to have a rider on our health insurance policy that pays for all of our travel expenses while we are out of town for medical care. I spent most of yesterday evening getting the receipts together, and the vouchers ready to be mailed. I think, going forward, I will try to put things on the voucher every few days. So, that it isn't such a chore.
Mary Jo has a dental appointment tomorrow, and an appointment on Thursday with her oncologist here in Louisville to have the dressing changed on her Hickman catheter before we head back to Nashville. The dressing is supposed to be changed every 7 days because of the risk of infection through this central line to the heart. During this procedure, everyone in the room must wear a mask.
Mary Jo will start the pre-transplant chemo treatments at 7:30am next Tuesday morning . Her immune system will be comprised a little more each day until the final treatment on Saturday which will do away with her immune system completely when her bone marrow is totally destroyed.
Avoiding infections for both of us will be critical from when the chemo treatments start until 20-30 days after the transplant when the stem cells graft and her blood levels return to normal.
Masks, wipes, daily towel washing, and frozen dinners will be the order of the day. We were also told to buy new pillows to use while we are there.
As always, thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.
Great news!! One step at a time. Mary Jo is a real trooper. So far, so good. The waiting to hear from you was hard. It was easy to let fear and worry to enter into our thoughts. We are continuing to pray for you all. Please pray for us. Love, John and Anne
ReplyDeleteThat is great news.If you need anything, please call.
DeleteLove and Prayers Bob and Janet