Happy Birthday Jack!

Jack's birthday was Sunday, and we had a big shin-dig at the new house! It was a lot of fun, and great to have the family over to celebrate with Jack. We were all SO happy that Jack got to spend his birthday at home!!

The transplant schedule has changed just a bit. We have learned that Jack's donor is too small to be able to donate stem cells, so she will be donating marrow instead. Thankfully, she is still willing to donate. This means that Jack's transplant schedule has been pushed back a bit, so that they can make sure they get enough marrow from his donor. He will now check back in to Mayo on May 7th, start induction chemo on the 8th, and have his transplant on the 15th. He is also expected to be in the hospital a bit longer (4-6 weeks) because bone marrow takes longer to en-graft (find it's way to Jack's marrow and start producing cells). 
Jack had one last bone marrow biopsy today, and as long as this one comes back clear, this schedule shouldn't change too much. His blood counts have been climbing- without blood, platelets or shots- and he has been feeling well. The nurses we see continue to comment on the positivity they see from Jack and anyone associated with him. His attitude is contagious :)

The golf tournament was a big success a few weeks ago- thank you to everyone who came out or helped out! Lots of fun was had by all!

Next up on our schedule is the Stem Cell/Marrow Registration drive, May 12th, at San Tan Flat in Queen Creek, AZ. We will be there from 11-5, swabbing cheeks to add people to the registry. Jack was lucky to find a donor from the National Marrow registry (only about half of patients that need transplants actually get one), so we are hoping to provide matches for the many patients that may not be so lucky. If you are interested in coming, you will get a free hamburger for signing up! If you aren't in the area or can't make it that weekend, you can always sign up to be on the national marrow registry at bethematch.org.

I think that's about it for now!

Wait a minute...that isn't the hospital!

That's right- Jack is home! He was suprised on Monday when the doctors came in and said, "Your counts look good, let's get you out of here today." It looks like Jack will get to spend his birthday at home! We don't know what room we will be in when he gets back to the hospital, so if you were planning on sending anything, hold off for just a little while until we know his next room number. 

From here, things are staying pretty close to the original schedule. He is in the process of doing his pre-transplant work-ups this week. There has been one change to the schedule I posted last time- the transplant is now scheduled for May 4th. He will still check back in on the same date that was originally scheduled, but he will have 2 extra days of rest between the induction chemo and the transplant. We'll keep you updated if anything else changes.

The golf tournament is this Sunday, and the event filled up fast! There are 36 teams of 4 that are competing for the win. Superstition Springs is shutting down the entire course to accommodate our group! Hopefully everyone playing watched the Masters closely over the weekend and got some pointers. It should be a great time.

We have also scheduled a date for the stem cell/marrow registration drive. It's going to be Saturday, May 12th from 11-5 at San Tan Flat in Queen Creek, AZ. Anyone who comes out and gets their cheek swabbed to be added to the national database will get a free hamburger. More details to follow.

We are all so excited (and I'm sure you are too) that Jack is home for a couple of weeks. It was such an awesome surprise! He said he feels like our bed is huge (it's just a queen) and our towels are really soft. He also has enjoyed sleeping through the night without a nurse waking him up every few hours. He is settling right in at the new house, and he is happy to be home. We'll keep the updates coming!

We Have a Schedule!!

Wow! It has been quite a while since I updated everyone, and we have lots of news to share!

First of all, Jack's pneumonia, strep and flu are much better. He is up and about, biking and exercising and eating as much as possible. He's lost quite a bit of weight, so he is trying to gain some back. We are all happy to see him active and moving around again.

Second, we got results back from two of the five people who were tested from the national marrow registry. They BOTH were a 10 out of 10 match to Jack!! The first one's blood type is a closer match to Jack's, so as of right now the doctors have decided to move forward with her. We don't know much about the donor- just that she is a 19 year old female who lives in the U.S. Whoever you are, thank you!

The only reason our donor may change is if one of the other people's blood types is a perfect match to Jack, or if our selected donor cannot donate for any reason.

With all that being said, here is the tentative transplant schedule:

The doctors are hoping that Jack will get to go home within the next week (fingers crossed everyone!) If that happens, he will come back to Mayo for outpatient work ups from April 9-11th. On April 19th, we will have a meeting with Dr. Sproat to discuss the transplant and answer any last minute questions we have about the procedure. He will check back in to the hospital on April 24th, and that will be referred to as Day -8 (the day of the transplant is Day 0). He will begin induction chemo on April 25th and it will last 5 days. He will then have two days to rest, and will receive the donor's stem cells on May 2nd, or Day 0. From Day 0, Jack will need 24/7 care for 100 days. The first 14 days or so will be spent in the hospital, and then he will be released as long as there are no complications. For the next 30 days (Days 15-45) Jack will need to be brought to Mayo every day for blood work and monitoring. From there (Days 45-100) the trips to Mayo will become more infrequent. 

A couple of notes:
-The caregiver does not need to be a medical professional, it can be any of his friends or family, as long as they can drive and are not sick. The caregiver is more of a support for Jack, to make sure that nothing weird goes unnoticed, that he takes his medicine on time, and doesn't over exert himself.
- It is not uncommon for a patient to have to be readmitted during the 100 days of recovery following the transplant, usually just for short periods of time.
- If there are any complications, issues with the donor's health exams, or we find out there is a more perfect match for Jack, this schedule will change.

I think that is about it for now- I'll keep updating and let you all know if the schedule changes at all. Thanks so much for all of your continued support! Also, don't forget that the deadline to sign up for the golf tournament is tomorrow! Thank you!!