Just to recap- in the beginning of December 2018 Dan was diagnosed with Philadelphia positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He completed 4 cycles of chemotherapy. His course was complicated by pulmonary emboli, neutropenic fevers and pneumonia. Of note, he had his first pulmonary embolism while he was watching Bohemian Rhapsody at the theater with his buddies but he was too busy to notice.
Dan came out strong and he is in complete remission now. Thank God! His hair and beard have grown back. He looks wiser due to the higher prevalence of gray hair. He is sporting the salt and pepper look. He has gone back to work, has been spotted playing pool at Howie's with Jon, Rich, Matt etc. and has almost finished a play house for the children.
Due to his leukemia being aggressive (see Philadelphia chromosome positivity) he needs a bone marrow transplant to achieve cure. We were blessed to find a perfect match in his little brother, Andy. (Thanks Andy for being willing to donate your marrow even though Dan pushed you from the hayloft when you were small).
Now we are waiting for Dan to get the OK to check into the BMT (bone marrow transplant) unit at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. This is 60 miles away from our home. An upper respiratory infection has been delaying his admission. In preparation for transplant he will receive myeloablative total body irradiation, which means they are going to completely wipe out his bone marrow. He will have no defenses to fight even the common cold.
Dan has some blood work on Monday 4/29 and his transplant nurse will check up on him on Monday or Tuesday. The tentative plan is to check into the hospital on Wednesday. Admissions can only happen Wednesday through Friday.
We will post here as soon as anything changes.
Thank you to all those who have been and are praying for Dan and for our family. Please continue to pray. We have incredible friends near and far. From the very first moment of Dan's illness we have never been left alone. This is a gift.
No comments:
Post a Comment