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I received a text from my mom yesterday with an update:

"Ok everyone, my anti rejection meds are cut in half, that's good news...and my blood count went up .6 from 9 (last thursday) to 9.6. And Joe's stem cells are now 94.6% active in me now. I just talked to the assistant, and they like that they're not seeing any cancer cells. Praise our Lord."

It was great to get that news yesterday and I thought we should share it. The goal is that she can be off of the anti rejection meds in about 100 days from the transplant, and it looks like we're heading that way. Since her blood count went up a bit that means she's producing her own red blood cells again, which was a cause for concern last week.

Great News Today

The past few weeks Mom's red blood cell count has been going down as well as her platelet count. It was low enough this week that Mom needed to get a blood transfusion. Sue took Mom up to Northwestern yesterday to get this done, and they also ended up taking a bone marrow sample to see exactly what is going on and why the levels are going down.

The doctor said the blood levels can go down when 2 different blood types are combating (my Mom's against her donors). The doctor also said that she does see this happen with other patients.

My Dad took my Mom back up to Northwestern today to get the results of the bone marrow and to have the weekly checkup. They said they don't see anything abnormal (cancer) in the sample, praise God, and that they have to study the sample further to see more of what's going on. We were so glad to hear that she is still cancer free!

The doctor said they may start decreasing her immune suppression medicine that she's been taking ever since the transplant. We expected this would happen soon and hopefully it will help her continue to gain strength, have less nausea, and feel better all around!

We're so thankful that the cancer is still gone and that things are on track. We trust, no matter what, that God is in control and that He has a perfect plan for each of our lives. We ask that you continue to pray for our Mom. She specifically would like prayer for her blood counts to continue going up so the questions and confusion aren't there anymore. We'll update the blog again when we get more information. Thanks for checking in!

Update

Mom is on her way home from her weekly appointment at Northwestern. She feels about the same as last week, still dealing with an upset stomach everyday. The doctor gave her a new prescription to try that may help her nausea. The doctors and nurses have always been very helpful to try different things if Mom's not completely comfortable.

Also, Mom's blood count and platelets have gone down a bit over the last couple weeks. The doctor said this is because Mom and Joe (her stem cell donor) have different blood types and they are battling a little. This is completely normal and should turn around about 3 months after the transplant and will not continue to be a problem. The doctor said that if Mom's blood count is still a bit low next week then they will give her a transfusion at her appointment. Again, there's nothing that we're worried about with this.

I guess that's all for now! Let me know in the comments section if you have any specific questions or give my Mom a call or a visit if you can :)

Happy New Year

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long since we've updated you! Our mom is doing very well these days. She's feeling better little by little and all of her counts are going up as they should be. The doctor is very happy with her progress. Mom spends most of her days at home still working on gaining her strength and energy back but she enjoys lots of visitors and just the fact that she can now be at home. She's still on a lot of medication that upsets her stomach, but overall, everything is going as best as we could hope for. Please continue to pray that these critical days go smooth.

Here's a picture we took at our family Christmas...













And a picture of the grandkids...