Julie was admitted this am into the BMT unit at Froedert. She was given her chemo this evening, which is the only she’ll receive during this process, and it only took about 15 min.; it is extremely powerful, and will take her immune system down to nothing in about a week. Tomorrow, she will be given back her stem cells, and the rest of the transplant requires waiting out the effects of the chemo, because she will be so vulnerable to infection etc. The reason they need to blast out her immunity, is that the stem cells, need to reassert themselves in her body, and jump-start her immunity all over again, as if the last version never existed; the objective is putting her into remission. The minimum stay is 14 days, but it could be longer. She’ll be getting white blood cell shots frequently, and when they are assured that her levels are back to normal and stable, she can be released. She’ll still need to stay close to Froedert at that point, but I suspect sometime early/mid-July, she’ll be back home. She’s back in the BMT unit on the 3rd floor again, and it’s not full isolation, but restricted; she can have visitors, but any colds or flu, not worth risking it; as long as she doesn’t catch a bug, she’s free to move around in there, etc. It’s going to be pretty event free week for her starting out, till the chemo kicks in about 5-6 days from now, and then it will be a little more uncomfortable; hopefully not too bad for her, but I’m assuming that following week will be the toughest leg for her to date. If you want to call her, shoot me an email, and I will get you her number. Don’t send flowers, as they can’t take them anyway. Cards, letters are great. Send her an email if you like to joolie61@new.rr.com; she reads all of them, but she’s probably not going to respond back. Thanks for all the support folks, this family really appreciates it. Tough times, but we are making progress, little by little ; she’s in great hands, and they are doing everything they can to turn this around, so we have faith!
Great to hear that procedure is finally happening! julie be positive and this will all be behind you soon. hopefully you can get back to feeling well again and really enjoy the summer.
Glad to hear she finally got to the transplant. But know it will be tough and we will keep her in our prayers that the next month stays uneventful.
hope things are going okay julie/rick? prayers and thoughts to you as always!
thoughts and prayers are with all of you, as always! Lots of love as well