Today there was a meeting with the Bone Marrow Transplant team....Here is the information from that. (Beware...I think I have more questions now than before)
Starting today we have begun the 8-12 week "get" ready process for the actual transplant. During this time they concentrate on finding a Bone Marrow match, getting insurance approval etc. This process will be involved and tedious, however they already have over 100 good matches for bone marrow (based on pre-typing) and a handful of good cord blood matches. They will narrow down the matches based a certain criteria to about 5 and then re-type and test further from there.
MEANWHILE.....
Sethman needs to get in remission again. They will continue to do Chemo injections 2x's per week in the spine and once remission is achieved, they will get his counts up then start prep. therapy for transplant. Which is basically as follows: Kill all bone marrow, through major Chemotherapy, plan on that taking 1.5- 2 weeks, then transplant. This is actually done in his room and then we wait for counts to come back. This typically takes around 20 days. for the next 6-8 weeks they watch for Graft vs. Host disease. This is where it gets tricky for me. They actually want to see this as it means the body didn't automatically assimilate the Bone Marrow, rather is "rejecting it" and through another drug the body learns to accept the new bone marrow. For one year Seth will be on the medication for the transplant, but will eventually be able to be weened off.
They told us to expect to be in the hospital for 16-18 weeks, with a slight chance for a few days at home, but it didn't seem like something we should count on.
This was a TON of information and I may not have it all right, but I will update and add to what I have as I get the information. Darin and Shannon are trying to process this all right now as it is a lot to deal with, but the ball is rolling and Seth is fighting!
We are going to be posting some events for fundraising so watch for that or you can always help through paypal or any family member. The money raised so far has been such a blessing and we are grateful for any help we receive, most importantly your prayers.
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I have heard that bone marrow transplant is becoming successful and its success rates are increasing. Genes mismatch results in success of bone marrow transplants. Bone Marrow Transplantation is removal of the sickly part from a patient and replacing it with a normal complement from a donor.
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