Kristine is about to lose her mind being cooped up in that hospital. I feel really bad for her. She had to spend her 35th birthday in that room. Although I must say, some terrific people went out of their way to make this birthday a little more special. Thank you to Dee, Yuuki, Rene, Jeff, Nora, Sean and Dana for stopping by the hospital to visit with Kristine. Thank you to the nursing staff who took a moment out of their busy schedules to sing Happy Birthday to Kristine. Thank you to Vicki who sang Kristine her unique version of Happy Birthday (which my sister, Kimberlie, and I were so lucky to see and hear Kristine receive via skype). Thank you to Deb for helping my mom bring Kahlen and Logan to visit with their mom on her special day. Thank you to all the wonderful friends and family who sent cards and called to wish Kristine a Happy Birthday. Dave even had a little surprise of his own. He was out of town working (Dave has taken on a second job to help with additional expenses) and was not expected to be back in town for a few days, but he surprised Kristine by coming back in time to help her celebrate! It really helped brighten Kristine spirits. She has been down in the dumps lately and it was nice to see her shine again.
In an effort to keep Kristine's spirits up, she and I skype everyday for hours at a time. I try to keep her company as much as possible, toting my laptop from one room to another taking her with me as I do household chores, change my little one's diapers and straighten my hair. It's funny, my little Chloe will ask, "Skype Auntie Noonie?" Or if we're about to go into another room of the house, she'll say, "Take Auntie?" This is how I entertain Kristine throughout the day. My husband says he has to be careful what he walks around the house wearing because he's never sure when Kristine is "watching." LOL!!!
Today Kristine's white cell count was up to 1.6! At this rate, she may reach normal levels (4.0-4.5) by Sunday or Monday which means she will be released from the hospital. That would be wonderful because it is absolutely heartbreaking to watch Kristine (on skype) view the video clips of the kids Dave sends her on the cell phone. She watches them over and over again. She even shares them with me and Chloe by putting her cell phone up to the webcam. :) She realizes how many moments she's missing out on being stuck in that hospital room, that's why I said it's heartbreaking. :( Dr. Jacoub has some tests he wants to run before she leaves, one of which will be another bone marrow biopsy. Hopefully, he will be the one performing the extraction as the entry site from the last biopsy gave Kristine much discomfort for over a week.
Dave spoke with the patient coordinator at UCLA today to get some idea of what the next few weeks holds in store. Now that we know Kathy is a match, we've all been wanting to know when Kristine will receive her bone marrow transplant. First of all, we must wait for UCLA to receive approval from the insurance company for the transplant procedure. Second, before they will finish Kristine and Kathy's pre-testing for the transplant, Kristine must remain in remission for at least two weeks before they will proceed. So as soon as her levels reach normal, she will have a bone marrow biopsy which must come back clean, then have another biopsy two weeks later which must also be clean. When I say clean, I mean clear of cancer cells. Kathy must undergo some additional blood tests and a pulmonary test. Once cleared, she will receive the same Neupogen injections that Kristine was receiving in order to increase her stem cell production. She will receive these shots for approximately 4-5 days, then they will draw her blood, similar to that of a normal blood donation. The stem cells will be separated from her blood for donation and the remaining blood will be transfused back into Kathy. Kristine only needs the stem cells, not all of the blood contents. One last thing, Dr. Paquette already has approximately 35 other patients awaiting transplants, so this doesn't help expedite the process. Uggggghhhhhhhh!
I hope what and how I've explained everything makes sense. I apologize if I'm not explaining it in a clear, concise manner. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave comments and I will try to elaborate.
Basically, we are looking at approximately 6-8 weeks before Kristine will receive her transplant assuming that she stays in remission. So we need our prayer warriors to pray for Kristine to stay in remission and for Kathy to clear all tests so that she is an eligible donor.
We are still awaiting the results of Kimberlie's test kit. Kimberlie and Kathy are both the same blood type as Kristine, so we're hoping Kimberlie will also be a match! :) You never know if Kristine may need another transplant down the line sometime. I was very upset to learn recently that even if this transplant is a success, Kristine will always be battling this disease for the rest of her life. She will need to take very good care of herself, eat right, get plenty of rest every night, exercise and get tested regularly. We can all take a lesson from this and do our part in taking care of ourselves!
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