Christmas Delayed

Thank goodness that Tyler's fever went down and the UW released us on Friday night. So, we got to start our Christmas on Friday night. We spent Friday evening relaxing with Tyler's mother and brother to kick off the holiday. Then on Saturday, we stopped by Tyler's dad's house to visit with Scott, Kate, and his grandma Mimi. It was such a treat to see them and get to enjoy a few minutes at their home.

On Saturday evening, I drove to Kent to spend some time with my extended family. Although I was a little bit too late to see a few of the family members (that had to drive home that night), I did get to visit with several folks. It filled my heart to see my niece and nephew's excitement over gifts and to talk to family about what's going on with them.

At our clinic visit yesterday, we learned that Tyler's WBC was 4.09 (normal = 4.3-10.0), his Hematocrit was 35% (normal = 38-50), and his platelets were 107 (normal = 140-400). Those counts were quite positive and we hope that he continues to hover in normal ranges.

He has his data review conference on Monday. This is the review of all of the testing they have done on Tyler to see if he can go through the transplant. Tyler must sign the protocol agreement to commit to the transplant at this point. If we sign those papers, we are going forward, full steam ahead!

His test dose is scheduled for Tuesday, January 6th. This is where they give him a tiny dose of the radioactive antibodies to make sure it will travel to the correct areas of his body when he gets the full dose later in the month. The theory behind Tyler's protocol is that these radioactive antibodies will be infused into his body and will target any fast-growing cells in the body to kill them with radiation. While most of the fast-growing cells in the body are cancerous, he will also have more mucositis as the fast-growing cells in his mouth, throat, and stomach are likely to be affected too.

Regardless, I hope that we will be able to stay home until Tyler's therapeutic dose mid January. He'll be radioactive for 7-14 days after the full dose of the radioactive antibodies, so he will need to stay in the hospital for a while. He may also have some side effects that require him to be hospitalized for a while longer. Almost 2 weeks after the therapeutic dose, Tyler's actual transplant will take place. We HOPE there are no more delays.

Enough about our crazy Christmas... We wish you a Happy New Year and hope that ours will be marked by improvements we can share with you.