November 15...

So we are in Salt Lake. YUCK!!!

K...so I have decided that God is teaching me patience and flexibility. I really can't think of another reason? Because I really don't understand the chaos or lack of organization that is involved in this process!!! I will warn you that I will vent...so beware ;-)

We went to the BMT  (Bone Marrow Transplant) outpatient clinic. Jeremie had blood drawn. And then we sat in a room for 2 hours waiting. Waiting for what? I really can't tell you. We had fun looking at People and US magazine's. Definitely took our minds off our own stuff going on :-) Our not so favorite P.A. came in to do an assessment. Why she goes up my spine...I actually could tell you, but you would think less of me ;-) Kidding! She just doesn't have the best bed-side manner.

Then one of the oncologists came in and told us our game plan. What is by far the most frustrating thing about this whole process (and I'm not afraid to give feedback)...is their lack of planning and communication. They have the necessary staff, protocols and equipment, just not the actual skills. Grrrr! Anyway...The Doc came in and explained that Jeremie would be starting on a "different" type of chemotherapy. This would run for 5 days. And then we would get to go home. Jeremie will do a lumbar puncture with chemotherapy treatment. If the sample comes back clear of leukemia, Jeremie will have weekly lumbar punctures with chemotherapy until the bone marrow transplant.

They are working on having my insurance cover the cost of HLA testing for umbilical cord transplant. They have matches. Now just have to see how "close" of a match they are. They want to move quickly on the bone marrow transplant. We are still super scared of this process. We have no idea on what to expect.

We spoke with our oncologist in St. George. He was positive about following Jeremie after the transplant. However, this will be determined by how Jeremie does afterward. The difficulty lies in having enough irradiated blood and platelets that match Jeremie at any given time. This is difficult as they expire, are expensive and you just don't have any idea. In a large city like Salt Lake it is not difficult to come by the quantity Jeremie might need. In St. George however, it can possibly be life-threatening if they "run out" or they expire. So we would wait to see how Jeremie recovers. Cross fingers he just does fabulous after transplant, the graft does great and he recovers fast!

Alrighty...news changes fast...so will attempt to keep up todate!