So, today, day -9, Deb had special labs and started a new round of chemo. She spent the majority of the day in bed in the clinic and held court with many nurses and APNs. In the waiting area, Israel had many questions and was very happy that he got a good report today. He is watching Deb's progress very carefully.
Weds we have extensive labs and then meet with Dr van Rhee. We hope to hear more about what we have heard concerning the test case ahead of Deb. The clinic nurses and APNs were abuzz over the report about how pleased the staff was in the extremely high count of killer cells in the blood just back from Baylor that was expanded for the man ahead of Deb.
We talked to a senior APN who was saying that the use of stem cells to treat multiple myeloma put UAMS on the medical map. If this Natural Killer Cell process being tested works well, cancer treatment will be revolutionized. Multiple times this week I heard on national TV shows references to tailored cancer treatments using dna information to medicate based on the individuals makeup. Guess where that was pioneered?
Tomorrow, day -8, begins the expansion work in Texas at Baylor University where Amanda's cells will be expanded. Deb has chemo on days -7,-6,-5,-4,-3.-2,
This whole medical test is being taken very seriously by Deb and me. We are having a special cleaning service come into the condo tomorrow to help sanitize it. Deb will be masked and be washing hands often. We will be very careful with food. We want Deb to be protected from exposure to even ordinary bugs since she is now in process of losing her immune system and we want her as healthy and strong as possible as we approach day zero.
Blessings!
Reading your blog daily and praying often.
ReplyDeleteNeal