Jill progressing well

Jill's healthcare team reports that she is progressing well and that her donated stem cells should begin to engraft in about a week. She is monitored through daily labwork and weekly clinic visits. She still tires easily and one of the side effects of her immune-suppressing drugs, used to prevent graft-versus-host disease, is nausea. The nurses at the clinic are working with Jill to effectively combine anti-nausea meds to decrease the nausea. They expect this side effect will subside as her body adjusts to the immune suppressing-drugs. Jill, Scott, and Sylvia were instructed on administering IV fluids at home to ensure adequate hydration.

To celebrate Thanksgiving, they had a turkey dinner at a local restaurant followed by a dessert social with other patients, families, and caregivers on the roof-top garden at the Pete Gross House (the Korn/Johnson home in Seattle). Scott flew home to Boise for the weekend, but plans to return next week.

Sylvia

Transplant complete

The transplant is done! Jill received an infusion of Harley's stem cells on Wednesday evening. The two-day stem cell collection process resulted in an unusually high number of stem cells, which the doctors say is a good sign for the tranplant prognosis. It was a long day for Jill, starting with a mild full-body radiation treatment. The initial indications are that the transplant went well. Jill is tired, as expected, but she is feeling well otherwise. Now begins a long process of recovery -- in the initial few weeks the new cells will establish themselves in Jill's system. Her immune system will remain vulnerable for a period of months afterward. So we will remain watchful and hopeful. Harley leaves Seattle on Friday while Scott and Sylvia stay on to help with Jill's recovery.

Preliminary steps in transplant going well

Today Jill completed three days of chemo in preparation for the transplant procedure. She has been doing very well lately. Her scans all indicate that she is cancer-free, which is just what the doctors were hoping for in advance of the transplant. Wednesday she gets radiation treatment, and then the transplant itself happens Wednesday afternoon.

This chemo regimen she is receiving is a new one, and so far the side effects have been relatively mild. So Jill is doing well -- just feeling a bit tired.

Each day since Saturday, Harley has had injections of a drug to boost his stem cell production. His counts are up, so everything is going as scheduled. On Tuesday and Wednesday he'll have stem cells collected. Scott arrived yesterday to stay for an extended period.

So everything is proceeding very well. I will add an update later this week.

tom

Latest test results look great

Jill had a data review conference with oncologists at the Center today and it went very well. The doctor said that she is in as good of shape as could be hoped, for the transplant. Jill said the doctor said her tests were "phenomenally unremarkable" which sounds good to me. The PET scan showed "no uptake," meaning there is no growth of the cancer right now. So everything is going according to schedule. The transplant is scheduled for the sixteenth. Harley arrives tomorrow to start preparing to donate stem cells. Thank you all for the notes of support and encouragement.

tom

Halloween in Seattle

There isn't much new to report on Jill's treatment. She continues to recover and get her strength back after her last chemo treatment. She has been getting some blood transfusions as needed to increase her blood cell counts. Until her body starts producing red bloods cells in sufficient quantities, their level drops and she feels tired. The transplant is still planned for November 15. In the meantime Jill and Sylvia are getting out occassionally for exercise and fun. They attended a Halloween party in their apartment complex this weekend and enjoyed that. They are getting to meet some of their neighbors, all of whom are Hutchinson Center patients or family members.

tom