No Chemo while Waiting

First, Melissa came down on Saturday and flew back this afternoon.  It was really good to see her.      
And good for some brother/sister time for Melissa and Michael.  Melissa was going to get to see her brother for the first time with wavy hair, but it started falling out the day before she came, so Michael went ahead and shaved the rest off.  So we have no evidence of wavy hair in pictures, but sending a picture of the two of them together.  Thanks to cousin Kris for getting Melissa to the airport today.

Publish Post

Today, we were to meet with the Hematologist, but he cancelled as we were about to pull in to park.  But he did talk to Michael on the phone and said he didn't have anything to add at this time and gave him his lab--which was good. He said no chemo prior to the high dose chemo scheduled for March 11 that begins the transplant process.
Michael will meet with the Transplant Doctor tomorrow and will have a PET and CT scheduled in the next week.
As always thank you for all of your prayers.  Special prayer requests continue to be prayers for the doctors, the donors, for Michael to remain strong and for everything to proceed without delays.
Thank you so much!!

We have a Date for Transplant

We were hoping for sooner, but we have a date for the start of transplant!  The process is planned to start on March 11.  That will be the when Michael will get the heavy duty chemo that will wipe out his bone marrow.  On about March 17 he should get the Stem Cells.  He will be in the hospital for a few weeks for this.  We will stay in Houston for at least 100 days after the transplant.

It is kind of borderline if he will get more chemo prior to the transplant.  We will be seeing his doctors early next week.

The donor has agreed to proceed, although not all of their testing is done (this is their protocol).  If the donor does not clear for transplant after their testing is done, then The Donor Registry would go back to the alternate donor who is on hold for testing and do more testing on the alternate donor at that time.  So if the first donor doesn't clear, then the transplant will be pushed back.

In between now and the transplant a lot of final testing for Michael.  Michael has been feeling pretty good and he looks great.  If you saw him you would never guess he is going through this.  Melissa will be coming down this weekend for a visit, so that will be great to see her.  

As always, we thank you for your prayers.  Here are our special prayer requests:  for the doctors as they are making decisions, for Michael to remain strong and healthy, for the donors health (and thanks again to them), and for all to proceed without delays.  Thank you!

 

One Donor has Started with First Visit

The donor that is a 13 of 14 match went in yesterday for the initial visit.  This visit would be for setting up tests for their work up.  The preliminary on this donor is supposed to be good.  But the question everyone wants to know is when will we find out if this donor meets all requirements and then when would the transplant be?  Also, there is the other potential donor who would be the back up if they respond.  We may find out within a few days or it could be longer.  As we wait, we thank each of you for all of your prayers.  The specific requests for prayers are for the donors to be tested quickly (also thanks to the donors for their efforts so far), for no delays and for Michael to have no complications from the chemo.
Thank you!

Great News and Green Bands

I had planned on spending all day trying to speed up the insurance approval and had a nice surprise that it was done this morning instead of having to wait until possibly next Tuesday.  So as early this afternoon, there have been attempts to contact the two donors.  We have no idea where they are from, they may not even be in the US.  We were told they were young and healthy and that may be all we ever know.  We will get an update on Monday to see if they have been contacted.
Michael had labs today and his counts have dropped a bit, but holding pretty well.  Hopefully in a few days will start going up.
About the Green Bands.  We had a bunch of bands made that say "Mike Hill" on one side and "faith" on the other.  They are like the Lance Armstrong bands, but they are green and glow a bit at night.  We wanted to send them out as a part of major prayer push as we proceed to the next step and as a way to say thank you for all of your prayers already.  Your prayers help more than you know.  Not everyone is a "band" person, so if you prefer please feel free to place somewhere as a reminder for prayer by your computer or toothbrush or where ever.
Last year, Michael's friends at Iowa State made bands in support of Michael.  So we made these to be like the ones they made.  We have started sending some out.  At the rate we are going it will take a few weeks (it will take longer if we need to make more).  I don't have everyone's address, so if you don't get one, please send your address and how many you need.  Or if you get bands and need more let me know.
I know it is hard to respond to the blog, so here is my e-mail: mrsmrhilltop@aol.com or brenda8688hill@gmail.com
Again, thanks for all the prayers.  Our specific prayer requests: for the process to proceed without delays, no complications for Michael and prayers for the donors.  Thank you.

Testing Done with a Frosty End

With the last four days of making numerous calls to speed things up, today we were told Michael's testing is done and will be submitted to the insurance company tomorrow and then by Monday or Tuesday, he should be approved that he is ready for the transplant according to the insurance company, then the donors can be contacted to begin their workups.
We thank you for your prayers and concern as the waiting for all this to happen is hard, Michael wants to get this started!!  We are wanting to get the transplant started before he needs another dose of chemo.
The last hurdle today was the Social Service/Psych consult.  Grandma Kay (who is recovering well) gave him advice to give the "right" answers for the psych test.  This advice came after the test was done and was not exactly followed.  During the visit with the Social Worker, she asked who the caregiver is (mom) and who is the alternate, which happens to be his loving sister, Melissa.  Of course her next question to Michael was "and what is your relationship with your sister?"  Michael's reply, "frosty at best!"  Fortunately, the Social Worker had a sense of humor (at least we think so) and she said she had never heard that response before.  Anyway, he passed the test. On Face Book Melissa asked Michael if he has seen the movie "Misery". 
Again, thank you for all of your prayers. The specific prayers we request are for no delays in the process of approval, when the donors are contacted they go in quickly for testing and that Michael has no complications from the chemo. Thank you.

Great News on Donor Search!!

We found out today that BOTH donors are a good match!!  They were looking for a 10 out of 10 to be a good match, but both were better.  One was a 12 out of 14 and one was a 13 out of 14.  Hopefully, both will have the testing so that we have an alternate ready to go if needed.
The testing of the donors is needed is to make sure that they are healthy for themselves to have the procedure as well as to see if their stem cells would be strong for Michael.  We thought that would start right away, but Michael needs more testing first.  So I spent a lot of the day trying to speed that up.  So tomorrow begins part of the testing and hopefully, the rest of his testing by the end of the week.
Thank you for all of your prayers so far and for your prayers for everything to proceed quickly up to the transplant and for Michael to remain free of complications. 
Happy Valentine's Day wishes to everyone.

Round of Chemo Done

Chemo done and back to our apartment.  We are staying in Houston as we are hopeful to start the transplant as soon as possible.  Next week Michael will have more testing in preparation for the transplant.  He feels pretty good considering all the chemo and he is very happy to be out of the hospital.
On the insurance front, it actually is crazy, but we found out today, it is NOT changing.  We had actually contacted the new insurance and we were working with several departments at MD Anderson for the change and now it is staying the same.  But, this will make it easier to stay with same insurance at least for the start of the process.
The news today for the donor search is that the preliminary tests on both of the donors with the highest potential to be a good match are on target to be good. We should know by mid week next week.
Grandma Kay was home yesterday and is doing well.
Thank you for all of your prayers for our family.  And, we appreciate them as we wait for the results and your prayers for no complications from the chemo and everything to stay on target.  Thank you!!

Updates

First about Grandma Kay, she had chest pain yesterday and with a Cardiac Cath today, ended up with one stint.  She is doing well and hopefully will be home tomorrow.  
Michael is tolerating his chemo well and is on target to get out of the hospital on Friday.
Yesterday, we found out that our Health Insurance is changing.  It had looked like we were not going to have changes until after the transplant, but this is potentially really bad timing.  So we are working with numerous departments here at MD Anderson and we will be trying to work with the new insurance company to avoid delays for the start of the transplant.
Good news that both of the potential donors with the highest chance to be a good match are in the lab.  We should know by next week. 
Thank you for all of your prayers.

Another Round of Chemo to Begin Tonight

The doctors decided on another round of chemo while we are waiting for the donor.  We had a late appointment with the doctor and they always run late, so Michael just got admitted and hopefully the chemo will start tonight.  If it starts tonight, he may be able to leave Friday morning.  They feel that he will tolerate it well.  Michael is ready to get this done, so that he is one step closer to the transplant.
Not much news on the donor search.  The one potential donor did get their blood drawn last Thursday, but it has yet to make it to the lab (it is done by overnight, but due to the "storm" last Friday, they think it was delayed).  They are in the process of tracking it.  Hopefully, it made it to the lab late afternoon.  Another donor was to have their blood drawn today and it should be in the lab tomorrow and if it goes as planned, they will know by mid week next week if they are good matches.  Both of these donors have a good chance of being a good match.  We don't know more about the other six donors who show potential, but don't have as much testing on them yet. 
Our specific prayer requests are for Michael to tolerate this round of chemo and that he bounce back quickly with no complications.  Also, prayers for the donors to continue getting into the doctors for the lab and check ups and for everything to continue with no delays.
And thank you for your prayers!!

Getting settled again in Houston

Our apartment is really nice, it has more space and will be very comfortable for us.  We're making progress on getting organized and finding everything.  The weather is quite variable.  Yesterday, they were expecting a potential major ice storm, which at least in our area didn't materialize.  However, they were trimming trees to prevent power outages, closing schools and putting gravel on overpasses and today it is in the 60's.
We don't know anything more if Michael will be getting more chemo or on the donor search, except the "storm" may have delayed by a day getting one of the donor's blood test to the lab.  Hopefully on Monday we will have more answers.
Thank you for your prayers.   

Details on the PET

Yes, the tumor resolved well, there is a little uptake yet, but it looks like inflammation, which is what the Radiologist expected.  So that is very good news and it is time for a transplant, but now to find a donor.  Because it is taking a little longer, the doctors are deciding whether to give Michael more chemo to help hold his remission.  Their are pros and cons to this, so we are waiting to find out.  It may start on Monday, if so, he will be in the hospital for three days.  He should tolerate it pretty well. 
As far as the donor search, even from yesterday, things have changed.  We now have two donors with a pretty high chance of being a very good match and both are going in for testing (one goes in tomorrow--earlier had planned on Tuesday, and one goes in on Monday--this was the one who they had been unable to contact earlier).  It should take eight days from the time of blood draw to find out if they are good matches.  There were also seven others they are looking at as good potential donors, one was ruled out today. They say the fastest it could proceed to a transplant from identification of the donor from the blood work would be 3-4 weeks. 
We found out today, cousin Kris, has the highest match to Michael of anyone tested of family and friends so far.  But, they feel they will be able to find a higher match from the Registry.  Thanks to everyone who looked into, got tested or was already on the Registry!!
Michael and I are staying in Houston.  We move into an apartment tomorrow at the same complex we were in.  Our address will be:


6301 Almeda Rd  Apt 832
Houston, TX
77021


Thank you for all of your prayers!!  It helps more than you know.  And we appreciate your continued concern.  Our specific prayers for now are for Michael to stay healthy and in remission while waiting for the transplant, for the potential donors to go in quickly for the testing and for everything related to preparing for the transplant to proceed with no delays.

Update from Houston

-from Mike: The PET scan showed good response to the radiation.  We're waiting on results from the donor list, and then I'll be ready for a stem cell transplant.  We are going out tonight!

More details coming.

Thank you for all the support, and keep the prayers coming!