Day 1 of the Tests

April 26th to 29th - In Houston at MD Anderson. Meet with transplant team and undergo pre admission tests.
May 10th - Move back to Houston for the summer.
May 11th - CVC moved to sub-clavicle (chest)
May 12th - Hospital admission to begin transplant process.

First day under our belts. We were fortunate enough to start out catching a ride with Keith and Eric. We can not thank our friends enough for their generosity. It didn't take long after take off before Kristen and I were sound asleep. I bet they haven't had such a quiet trip with a couple of women in a long time! Devin had arranged our ride in Houston and we were off to MD A. Kristen was glad she'd eaten some breakfast because they took 25-30 vials of blood! Some were for research. I didn't think she could have much more in her body. From there she went to Bone Marrow Biopsy. They gave her some Xanax so that she would be more relaxed. This made her a very sleepy girl the rest of the day! The most informative appointments were with the Transplant Research Nurse and Dr. Popat.

As long as there are no obstacles, Kristen will enter the hospital on May 12th and receive her stem cells on May 18th aka Day Zero. They have two cords selected for her and on Thursday after she signs final consent, they will order them to be sent to MD A. One of the cords will go through an expansion process and the other will be given as is. The purpose of the expansion is to lessen the time for engraftment. On day zero she will be given the expanded cord. It should start to engraft in the first 14 days. On day 1 she will receive the second cord and it should take longer to engraft as long as day 30. Devin will be the back up stem cells. If for some reason her body would not engraft with the new cells by day 30 they would give her cells from Devin's blood. This is not normally necessary but they have to have a back up or else Kristen would be left with nothing in her blood.

Okay, now for the part that none of us want to think about. Dr. Popat shared with us that once again, the odds are against us. There is only 20-30% chance that this will cure her AML. But with out a transplant...no cure. Just a rollercoaster of fighting this over and over. Instead of focusing on these negative odds, I'd rather think that here is a chance for God to show his power. So pray with us that it be His will for this transplant to ultimately cure Kristen.