Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone. Jill, Sylvia, Kishka (the cat) and Turbo (the dog) are in Seattle. The girls flew out on October 23, and Scott drove up with Turbo on the 27th. As Sylvia and Jill were headed to the security check for their flight on Tuesday, they received a moving send off from many friends from Boise's Team in Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

They are settling into an apartment. It is small but comfortable and convenient to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA). It is up the street from the apartment they stayed in two years ago, so they are familiar with the area. Sylvia told me that today they saw lots of interesting Halloween costumes.

Last week both Jill and Sylvia had a number of preliminary tests and examinations in preparation for the transplant coming up in two weeks. If all goes as planned, next week Jill will have 5 days of chemotherapy followed by a session of radiation.

I have enclosed some photos that Scott emailed me. The first is of Jill and Boise's other Team in Training patient honoree, McKynna. The second is of Jill and the Light the Night coordinator, Kari, speaking with a local news broadcaster about the society and Light the Night event.

The Send Off

Here are some photos of the send-off that Jill's friend from Team and Training, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society gave Jill and Sylvia when they left for Seattle.

Off to Seattle

A lot of things have happened in the last few weeks. The Fred Hutchinson clinic called to let Jill know that they would like her to come up to Seattle to start her next phase of treatment. Jill had her last dose of Rituxan on Friday (October 19). Next Tuesday, Jill and Sylvia will fly out to Seattle and move into an apartment they have rented near the clinic. Scott will drive Turbo the dog out the next weekend. On November11, Tom will fly out to Seattle to help. Harley just happens to have a meeting that week in Seattle so we will be there to help out as well.

This time Sylvia will be the bone marrow donor for Jill. Parents are"haplo-identical donors." The goal of this procedure is to introduce bone marrow that is compatible, but dissimilar enough to Jill's own marrow to create additional resistance to the Hodgkin's disease. The protocol the doctors are using is relatively new and has proven quite effective. Bone marrow will be collected from Sylvia and immediately given to Jill. The procedure is safe but will leave both Jill and Sylvia uncomfortable and in need of some help for a few days. That is where Scott and Tom come in.

So things are moving along. We feel much better about treatments that are preventative rather than to fight active cancer. I will provide more updates as the treatment progresses.