MD Anderson has tweaked Luke’s bone marrow transplant schedule. He I still being admitted Sunday (12/1) but BMT will not occur until Tuesday 12/10. When Luke is admitted they will run more tests including one to check Luke’s sensitivity to the chemo that kills off his bone marrow. Chemo will now start Wednesday 12/4 and take four days. After chemo Luke will rest for two days and the BMT will be 12/10. The other change in the schedule is Kendall’s schedule. MDA has recommended that Kendall stay out of a hospital environment between now and the BMT to minimize her exposure to disease and pestilence. Dear sweet Kendall Ann Babb is going to remain in Houston until they pull her bone marrow on 10/9. All the tests MDA has done on both Luke and Kendall have turned up no red flags. Fingers are crossed that that continues. Blood/platelet drive for Luke is 12/7 and the Residence Club. It’s recognized it’s a lousy time of year for a blood drive but over the next month we’ve been told Luke will need a lot of blood and platelets. If he has replacement units he will receive priority for his needs. Please if you are in the neighborhood stop by and make a deposit! Send me an email at LukesBlood@earthlink.net if you would like a time to donate! Luke goes under to get his PICC line tomorrow. His attitude is great. He’s going to whip the asshat. Everyone have a great turkey day. After you get plenty of nourishment and plan on coming by for a blood letting on the 7th! Regards Dave

BMT Schedule

Luke’s schedule for the rest of the year is firming up. As of last week insurance has approved the transplant and he was taken off all chemo in preparation for a bone marrow transplant. Prior to the BMT he has been/will be down at MDA 2-3 days a week for testing. The blood draw this week was pretty extensive – he took a picture of all the tubes of which they must have been a dozen. Luke also had bone marrow drawn this week to check for blast cells. They do not want to risk problems with his port so he will be getting a PICC line with 3 or 4 ports to accommodate everything he will need following the transplant. Next week he gets a pulmonary assessment. Kendall is in town next week to begin her screening. I am not sure what all is involved but they wanted he here over the weekend to see her on Monday after her initial testing. If all goes according to plan Luke will be admitted on Sunday December 1. Upon admission he will begin four days of chemo to kill off his bone marrow cells. He will be receiving two different chemos. It’s hard to think of this as chemo therapy, one because they are designed to kill all his bone marrow and not to just target cancer cells and two the names for the chemos are better suited for drain cleaners. As with any chemo there can be side effects. For one of the chemos he will receive a low dosage the week before transplant to allow the transplant team to assess how his body assimilates it. Following the 4th day of chemo Luke rests for 2 days and will be given the bone marrow transplant on December 7th. Kendall will make another trip to Houston and they will draw her bone marrow the same day it will be given to Luke. The bone marrow transplant itself is described as an uneventful process as it only involves hanging a bag like a blood transfusion. December 7th is designated as “Day 0” by the transplant team and everything else is scheduled off of that date. From day 0 it’s a lot of wait and see. They expect to see white cell production somewhere between day 10 and 14. The big variable is Graft to Host Disease (GTHD). The transplant team wants to see some GTHD as it is a sign his body is recognizing the graft cells. Luke will not be discharged until is white count exceeds a safe threshold. Xmas will probably be at MDA. For those reading this in Houston, Luke is going to need a lot of platelets and blood. Over the holidays blood supply is always a problem. While not everyone donating will match Luke he will be given priority if there are replacements units donated in Luke’s name. I am going to try to set up a blood drive on Saturday December 6 with MDA at the Residence Club. Please email me at dmnovick4@gmail.com if you think you will be able to donate so I can get an idea if the numbers can support having MDA do a drive.