Jack had all of his 1-year check ups, and everything is great! His bone marrow biopsy results show no leukemia cells, and he has almost no evidence of graft vs. host disease. He broke all kinds of hospital records with his lung function, grip tests, etc. The doctors are really pleased with how well he is doing, and he feels great!
Since our last post a few things have happened:
First, Jack had a bout with Shingles which is really common in post-transplant patients. He started one medication again and will continue that for a year to prevent any more outbreaks. The doctors were not too concerned about this at all.
Second, while playing soccer a few weeks ago, he tore his MCL. Luckily he didn't need surgery, he just had to walk around in a brace for a few weeks. Now he is doing physical therapy and things are progressing well. He should be back to normal in a couple more weeks.
Our third (and most exciting) piece of news is that we found out who Jack's donor is! It's not very often that donors and recipients get to contact each other- often one or the other wishes to remain anonymous. We are SO GLAD that this was not the case for us. Her name is Mallory, and she is an amazing young woman from Maine. It's been totally surreal to hear her point of view and to hear about her experiences. Since she didn't know anything about Jack at the time except that he was a 23 year old male with Leukemia, she nicknamed him Sebastian instead of referring to him as her "bone marrow recipient" because it felt more human to her :)
Mallory had only been on the registry for two months when she got the call that she may be a match for Jack. When she learned that she would need to have surgery to donate, she didn't hesitate at all. She even said the process was not as bad as everyone makes it seem. It's been an absolute pleasure getting to know Mallory, and hopefully we will get to meet her in person someday!
Unless something major happens, this is going to be my last blog post. Thank you to everyone who followed Jack's journey for the past year and a half! We appreciate you!
