A plan of action and more waiting

My bone marrow biopsy came back perfect.  It was empty!!!  Now we need the opposite and need it to start making blood again.  As soon as I hit the point where I have 500 nutrifils in my blood sample then I get to go home!

We (Loren and I) had a family meeting with our doctors on Wednesday, August 27.  I must admit that these docs have incredible bedside manner and are very good at explaining medical issues and at the same time are very sensitive to our feelings.

In the meeting we were told that because of the specific chromosomal mutation which the bad white blood cells (blasts) have that bone marrow transplant is the best way to go.  This wasn't what we were hoping and praying for but after talking with the doctors we feel that this is the best way to go.  There is some good news.  20 minutes before our meeting they received the results from my sisters and brother being typed to see if they were a match.  My brother, Scott, is a perfect match!!!!  If we need to go down this transplant road, going down it with a sibling perfect match and with me feeling strong is the best possible scenario.  

So now we wait for my blood counts to come back up so I can go home.  I will be home for about 2 weeks and then I will come back for the transplant. Unfortunately, that stay will be about 5 weeks.  And then there will be a long recovery period at home.

I am grateful for talented doctors who understand many things about leukemia that I do not.

Later on Wednesday we had our girls meet with a doctor as well so that they could understand what was happening and what the next steps would be.  Not to brag, but I think Loren and I have the best kids in the world!  This is a tough thing to ask them to deal with and to process and they are doing amazing!  This does not mean that it isn't hard and there aren't any tears...all of that happens and it is okay.

We ended the night with the ultimate haircut!  It was time to shave my head. Hair was falling out at a rapidly increasing rate and as one of the doctors said, "it was time to pull off the band-aid"!  So out came the clippers and we let the girls decide if they wanted to do something crazy in my hair before it came all the way off.  They did have some crazy ideas and we did them all! Loren finished off the rest and now he is married to a crazy bald woman!  The next day a good friend gave me a t-shirt which I am wearing in the picture - it is perfect to go with my new style.  (I have always been jealous that guys' hair doesn't take as long to do).