Toodles

Joy has loved being home and has expecially enjoyed watching the twins toodle around. She had a lovely Thanksgiving and was greatful to be home! She administers shots to herself everyday and will be receiving another round of chemotherapy withing the next few days.

Homeward Bound

To the delight of Ken, Olivia, Joshua, Grace, Eleanor, Noah and everyone reading this blog, Joy came home today. Her children made a banner in honor of the occasion. She will be home until the 30th. Hooray!

Because, she is still weak, she still cannot accept visitors. She wants everyone to know, however, how much she loves them!

The OTHER good news is . . . her cancer is currently in remission!

Coming Home :)

Joy starting feeling NORMAL today. She took a walk outside today. AND, she'll get to come home sometime this week. Hooray!

She is thrilled to be coming come. Because she is still weak and needs rest, however, she will not be able to see visitors. Please let her know how much she is loved by sending comments to the blog.

happy, happy . . .

This will describe all of you at the end of reading this posting.

First of all, Joy will be able to go home mostly likely within the next several days.

Secondly, her white blood cell count is up to 1100, exceeding the doctors' expectations.

Finally, (this is so good that i'm going to make you read this extra stuff before getting the news--just to make you savor this more) . . .

Darren (Joy's older brother) is a donor match.

Ken and Joy and both of their families are very grateful for this news and feel especially grateful to all of those who have been fasting and praying in Joy's behalf.

:)

Joy had a FANTASTIC Halloween! (pictures coming soon.) She got to watch 24 (scary, i think, even when it's not halloween).

Unfortunately, her Typhlitus has been causing her a lot of pain over the last couple of days. She's now on some opiates from an IV that have been helping her feel better. She also had the tube taken out of her collarbone. This means that it will be easier for her when she returns home.

And . . . the big news is . . . her white blood cell count (the good kind) went from 8 on Monday to 80 on Tues. Hooray! If they continue to increase, she can return home.

Bone Marrow Transplant

Joshua (age 6) snapped opened a chicken bone today and informed me that the gooey red/black stuff inside was bone marrow. "This," he said, "is what makes your blood." I've eaten hundreds (maybe thousands?) of chickens in my life and have never seen its bone marrow. It's pretty gross. :)

This 'goo' is what Joy will need to have transplanted. On Tuesday, one of Joy's doctor's, Dr. Peterson, sat down with all of her immediate family that was in town and held a meeting informing us all of the details of her bone marrow transplant.

Basically, having a successful transplant greatly improves her chances of recovery. Many factors go into her having a successful transplant.

1) She will have to have radiation therapy to further destroy any remaining cancer cells. She will receive radiation in several small doses. Together, these doses add up to a larger dose than is typical for radiation treatment, but the breaking down of the doses allows for her body to accept more of it in a healthier way.

2) She needs to find a bone marrow donor. Ideally, she would have what is called a 10 out of 10 match. Some transplants have been done with an 8 out of 10 match, but the better the match, the better the chance of Joy's body accepting the transplant. None of the four siblings that have been tested are matches. Her brother, Darren, has been tested and the results of the test will come in Friday or Monday. In case he is not a match, Joy's doctors have been looking at a worldwide donor list. Apparently, the chances of her finding a match in this list is greater than 85%. Already, her doctors have found 64 possible candidates. These candidates are now being tested to see if they are exact matches.

3) Once she has found a donor, it is important to determine whether or not her cancer is in remission. The transplant is smoother and more successful if this is the case. If this is not the case, she will be given another round of chemotherapy before undergoing the transplant.

4) There are two ways to obtain bone marrow from a donor. The first involves exatracting it directly from the host's pelvic bone. The host is given anesthesia and then the marrow is extracted. This is a good option if Joy's cancer is in remision because the marrow will not contain white blood cells from the host and thus there will be less of a chance of a clash with the host's immune system. The second involves giving the donor medication which induces extra bone marrow production. The marrow is then harvested from the donor's blood stream over a few days. This is the best option if the cancer is NOT in remission because the donor's white blood cells can sometimes help combat the remaining cancer cells. Although each option is best for a different scenerio, it is up to the donor which extraction method he or she prefers.

5) The transplant involves taking the donor's marrow and injecting it directly into Joy's bloodstream. Her bloodstream then takes the marrow and integrates it into her own, hopefully replacing the mutated marrow.

6) Dr. Peterson is an expert in bone marrow transplants and has overseen over 5,000 transplants in his career.

7) Because Joy is young, she will have a full transplant instead of the 'mini' transplants often received by elderly patients.

We all learned a great deal in the meeting and are very grateful for Dr. Peterson. Joy (as always) is looking beautiful in her scarf and (of course) painted toenails.