BMT- not a sandwich
Bone Marrow Transplants. It used to be... to get your bone marrow, they needed to put you out and take a chunk of your hip/pelvic bone. Now there's another option called PBSC (peripheral blood stem cell transplant) - which is more like donating blood plasma.Donation Process
Find out more here, at the site run by a great nonprofit. They help get people registered as potential matches, so there's a database before someone needs it. I've been impressed with the professionalism of the entire unit. They bend over backwards asking for my consent at each stage, and I have my own "team" who verifies this won't aggrevate any of my health issues (as much as they can do so!).They make it sound like 5 days of discomfort or pain, and then my body feels okay within a day, and IS back to normal levels within 2 weeks. There's very small risk of anything going wrong for me, and no long term effects. It's totally amazing. I'm blessed to have a mom and husband who are taking care of the kids, and an amazing friend who's staying with me during the whole week.
December 31 - Mark starts daily chemo; Kristi starts daily shots to boost stem cell production
Where are we doing this?
University of North Carolina Hospitals
During the donation process (for me) and the recovery process (for him), we'll stay at the SECU Guest House. It's similar to the Ronald McDonald Houses, but specific to adults and their caregivers.
Calendar- who to pray for when
January 1-3 - both continue daily regimen.
January 4 - Collection Day! Kristi will donate stem cells.*
January 5 - Transplant Day! Mark receives stem cells.
January 12-15 - Mark needs a lot of prayers, as these days are critical for his body to accept the transplant.
Early February - We expect him to be discharged from the hospital.
February - April - He'll stay at the SECU house to recover, as he'll have multiple appointments with the doctors and recovery team.
Other questions?
comment below or contact Kristi
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