Visit to Vandy

Well, first off I just want to tell everyone my PET/CT scan was NEGATIVE for all signs of cancer! YES! Going in to transplant in remission greatly increases your chances of cure. Anyways, me and my mom hopped in the car and had the whole 2 day test fest, where they check just about every organ in your body to make sure its in good shape for transplant. So far, everything looks OK, my bone marrow still hasnt recovered for the Cytoxan I had 6 weeks ago, so we know now that my bone marrow has been permanently damaged.. so out with the old and in with the new! My sister Katina met us in Nashville for her donor workup, and of course she is healthy.

The information I received about the Allo transplant was alot to swallow in one sitting, talking about a 20-30% chance of dying before day 100 following transplant, and your chances of recovering if you were placed in ICU (very slim), and of course talking about all of the chemo side effects and things that could happen, kidney failure, resp. failure, liver failure, and of course talking about and signing a living will. NOT something I want to think about.

So, January 5th is the day I go in for preadmission, just the check up before my admit, the January 6th, I have my port a cath removed because it doesnt work and is a risk for infection, and then January 7th, I start chemo. So its all coming up very fast.

For my sister Katinas account, jump on over to her blog at the right, the Whitworth family blog. Thats all for now!

Sweet baby

My sweet baby Skylar on Christmas!

Test Fest

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We spent Christmas in Memphis with my sister Katina and her family. It was so fun! Tomorrow begins my testing to be cleared for my Allogeneic transplant, its 2 full days of testing. The time is nearing when I will be staying in Nashville, approximately 2 weeks, maybe less before I start the transplant chemo which will be CBV, I think I have about 6 days of that, then Dday. New bone marrow is added from my gracious and willing sister, who luckily was a 10/10 match. Im really nervous about what this next PET scan will show, if Im still in remission or not. If Im not, Ill have to have additional chemo to put me back into remission before I start transplant chemo. I have a feeling that I am, but theres always that horrifying doubt. We are in need of funds extremely bad as the time nears for transplant for the upkeep of my little one Skylar. So please donate if you havent yet, we would so appreciate it. If it wasnt really needed I sure wouldnt be begging for money. = ( Anyways, Ill let you know what the test fest results are as soon as I know them! Katina also goes for her donor workup tomorrow, which will probably last all day, so hanging out at Vanderbilt tomorrow seems to be what we are going to be doing! Woot!

Help!

I do have a very large conflict that I was wondering if you knew of any way to help. I will be inpatient for about a month, and then move over to the Villages at Vanderbilt to live for the following 2 months. They require a caregiver for myself, and for Skylar (my 14 month old girl). We have all but run out of money to hire someone to watch Skylar during the day, and all of the charitable organizations I applied for have run out of money for the year. Is there anyone who would be willing to help out by giving time, funds, etc? Maybe a fundraiser event? I hate to ask, but we are in dire straights and have exhausted all of our family here. Any ideas would be great.

I do have a paypal account if anyone would like to donate, there is a "Donate" button in the right-hand column.

Thanks, hope you are doing well and having a wonderful holiday season!

A major set back

Well, after a week and a half in the hospital 3 hours away from home with neutropenic fever, and trying to collect stem cells, I am home. Fever was taken care of by the Vancomycin, but unfortunantly, I was not able to collect any stem cells. = ( I have the option of trying AMD3100 to try and collect, but my doctors are worried that putting unhealthy stem cells back in my body would just be setting me up for a relapse. So, what now? A fully myleoablative Allogeneic transplant with my sister being the donor. Shes a 10/10 match if you remember. I had so much Neupogen that I was thrown in to what is called Sweet's Syndrome. Believe me, its not sweet. You break out in to a huge rash that looks like chicken pox. They say my cure rate is even better with a matched sibling donor, and thats what we are looking for right now is cure. So, I get 2 weeks off, then back to Nashville to start the work up for an Allo. Im so upset I couldnt collect my own cells, but if they arent working, I sure dont want them back in my body. Thanks every one for the prayers and thoughts, Ive been really upset lately and down in the dumps about the lastest complications. Any info on Allos would be greatly appreciated. I think Im still in remission, but we'll find out after Christmas.