From: “Smith, Dianne” Dianne.Smith@mpls.frb.org
So much has happened in the past two weeks. Jenny has won the heart of every doctor and nurse that has worked with her! She is so strong and has total confidence in a successful transplant.
Our “work up” week consisted of more than 48 hours at the University of Minnesota. The staff at the U of Mn is very professional and they are determined that every detail is carefully thought out, measured and double-checked. The many machines and tests are too numerous to mention, suffice to say that the U of Mn knows every inch of Jenny’s body. For example, they know how thick her skull is, how dense her rib bones are, how well her liver is functioning. The final grade for her overall health, given the results of all of the tests and exams was an A.
Jenny had her bone marrow harvested this morning (for backup in case her body rejects her donor’s bone marrow). She knows exactly how her donor will feel next Thursday and naturally she’s very appreciative of his sacrifice for her. The doctors also installed a Hickman catheter into Jenny’s right jugular vein, which will feed the medicines directly to her heart for distribution to the rest of her body. Jenny will receive anti-rejection drugs via this Hickman catheter for up to 2 years. She will also receive the bone marrow transplant through the Hickman catheter late on Thursday or in the early hours of Friday, June 18th.
Tomorrow and Saturday Jenny will get chemotherapy. Then at 7:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (morning only on Thursday — 7 sessions total) Jenny will receive total body radiation. This is done to kill Jenny’s bone marrow so that her body will accept her donor’s bone marrow. If all goes well, we should see her white cell count come in around Day +16 (early in July). Tests will be done at that point to determine if the white cells are being made by the donor’s bone marrow or Jenny’s. It is crucial that it be the donor’s.
The doctors have encouraged us to expect good results with this tranplant because the donor is an extremely good match. He even has the same blood type as Jenny! It wasn’t necessary that he be O+ also, but we’re happy that he is because that is also Steve’s blood type –so he can continue to be a donor whenever Jenny needs blood or platelets.
At this point, things are progressing well. Keep us in your prayers.
Love,
The Smiths
Steve, Dianne, Jenny and Jason
