No Hair? No Fair!: May 2011

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Happy Happy Birthday!!!

Courtney made her an incredible German Chocolate GF Cake. Yum.

The Chemo Bean and her Family

Jessica, Jasen, Cameron, Clayton, Christian
Ana Paula, Courtney, Paul, Julie

Julie's 6 siblings were tested as possible bone marrow donors 2 weeks ago. The results came back on Friday evening. Her older brother, Barry, is the one perfect chromosomal match. He is willing and ready. We cannot express how eternally grateful we feel to have such an incredible family. It's truly a miracle that we have a perfect match. Thank you for all your many prayers and thoughts regarding this delicate matter.

We will keep you updated as soon as we know more.
In the meantime, check out these links below.

Stems Cells and Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Collection
Blood cells grow in the same way as other human cells. They develop in the bone marrow from a parent cell known as a stem cell. Stem cells are immature cells that can develop into all of the different types of blood cells: white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. Stem cells are usually found inside the bone marrow spaces of large bones. They can also travel from one bone to another by way of the blood stream.

In a blood and marrow transplant, stem cells are harvested, either from the large bones or from the blood stream, and transplanted to the patient. Stem cells collected from the pelvic bone in the lower back are called bone marrow. Stem cells harvested from the blood in the veins are called peripheral blood progenitor cells. This is why blood and marrow transplants are often referred to as blood stem cell transplants.

Stem cells can be collected from the blood. This procedure is called a peripheral blood stem cell collection. This technique does not require surgery. It does, however, involve a few more steps than a conventional bone marrow harvest. Prior to the collection, the donor is given a medication to promote the growth and release of stem cells from the bone into the blood. The stem cells are then collected using a special machine called a Cell Separator. This technique has dramatically increased in popularity over the last ten years.

The transplant process works like this: stem cells are collected from the bloodstream in a process called apheresis. The cells are frozen and stored. Patients are then given very high doses of chemo to kill the cancer cells. The patient also gets total body radiation to kill any cancer cells that the chemo might miss. After treatment, the stored stem cells are given to the patient as a blood transfusion. The stem cells settle into the patient's bone marrow over the next several days and start to grow and make new blood cells.

People who get a donor's stem cells are given drugs to prevent rejection as well as other medicines if needed to prevent infections. Usually within a couple of weeks after the stem cells are given, they start making new white blood cells. Then they begin making platelets, and finally, red blood cells.

Patients having stem cell transplants have to be kept away from germs as much as possible until their white blood cell count is at a safe level. They are kept in the hospital until the white cell count reaches a certain number, usually around 1,000. After they go home, they will be seen in the outpatient clinic almost every day for several weeks.

In general, transplants in first remission have a better chance of a good outcome than transplants received later or when the disease is not in remission. A large study of more than 1,900 ALL patients showed that allogeneic transplantation with a sibling donor is the best treatment for adults with standard-risk ALL in remission.

Go here for more info:
Be The Match

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Open House Hat Photos!l

I think I can speak for my whole family when I say we were completely overwhelmed by the amount of love shown at the Hat Open House yesterday! So far, we have collected about 49 hats and scarves for Julie. It was a fantastic success! Thank you SO MUCH for coming and brightening her day! The cards were an added bonus. She loved them all!

After the two Open Houses, Courtney and I brought all the hats up to the hospital for Julie to try on. We got photos of most of them. We loved how the hats and scarves matched the personalities of those giving them. Thank you again!

If I have mislabeled the caption, please please please let me know. I did my best to keep them all straight!

Which one is your favorite?! This doesn't count as a "hat", per se, but I personally love the wig that my aunt Wendy brought my mom. You'll see I'm much better as a brunette than a blond. :)