On
the 5th of January I had another PET scan to determine how my body
and specifically how the cancer cells had responded to the G-CSF chemo. Thank
you to all of you who sent messages, called, said prayers and positive vibes- I
am ECSTATIC to say the I received the results on Wednesday and the showed a
virtually clear scan! I’m sure you are all wondering what this means
for me.. Unfortunately in the Oncology world, “virtually” is not good enough as
it means that there are still two cancer hot spots showing up in my body- one
above my left collarbone and one in my chest. It is difficult for the doctors
to tell whether these are active, multiplying sites or if they are simply
scarred areas that are healing.
To be on the safe side I will need to continue
with the next stage of my secondary treatment which consists of another round
of chemo as well as a bone marrow transplant. Even though I'm not completely in remission I am still able to have the transplant, the closer you are to total remission the more successful the transplant is likely to be. It’s important that I tell you
that even if my PET scan results were completely clear, I still would’ve had
the additional chemo as well as the transplant. This is because the chemo had
forced me into a form of “remission” that is sadly only temporary, if I had
elected not to continue with the additional chemo and transplant my cancer
would almost definitely have returned in the near future and it might to be too
late then to do anything to keep me alive! I’ve come this far and endured so
much- I can almost see the pattern of the checked flag at the top of the
mountain!
Let
me explain a bit more about my upcoming transplant: A bone marrow transplant is a procedure to replace damaged or destroyed
bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Bone marrow is the soft, fatty
tissue inside your bones. Stem cells are immature cells in the bone marrow that
give rise to all of your blood cells.
There are 3 different types of bone marrow
transplants:
- Autologous bone marrow transplant: The term auto means self. Stem cells are removed from you before you receive high-dose chemotherapy or radiation treatment. The stem cells are stored in a freezer (cryopreservation). After high-dose chemotherapy or radiation treatments, your stems cells are put back in your body to make (regenerate) normal blood cells. This is called a rescue transplant.
- Allogeneic bone marrow transplant: The term allo means other. Stem cells are removed from another person, called a donor. Most times, the donor's genes must at least partly match your genes. Special blood tests are done to see if a donor is a good match for you. A brother or sister is most likely to be a good match. Sometimes parents, children, and other relatives are good matches. Donors who are not related to you may be found through national bone marrow registries.
- Umbilical cord blood transplant: This is a
type of allogeneic transplant. Stem cells are removed from a newborn
baby's umbilical cord right after birth. The stem cells are frozen and
stored until they are needed for a transplant. Umbilical cord blood cells
are very immature so there is less of a need for matching but blood counts
take much longer to recover.
So
many of you have asked how to be tested when you have heard that I needed a bone
marrow transplant and I am SO unbelievably grateful for the kindness you have
shown- it really is the most selfless act and ultimately the gift of life, which
is priceless!
I
am very fortunate that my bone marrow was not affected by my Hodgkin's Lymphoma
(confirmed by that horrendous bone marrow biopsy that I told you about!). I
will be receiving an Autologous bone marrow transplant which is a lot less
risky, and obviously a lot easier to arrange as I am effectively my own donor.
In the case of Allogenic bone marrow transplants, the statistics of finding a
donor that is a 100% match is about 1 in 100 000 people!
In
an ideal world, we should all be on the bone marrow donor registry so that each
person needing a bone marrow transplant could at least have a chance of finding
a match. The process is so simple and basically pain free <3 Please visit
the following link if you would like to know a bit more about the process:
My
bone marrow transplant happens in four stages:
·
I will be given a very high dose of chemo of the course of four
days which will kill off any remaining cancer cells but It will also completely
stop the bone marrow from making blood cells, which we
need to live.
·
I will be given a course of Neupogen injections and other
medication to speed up the regrowth of my bone marrow after the chemo.
·
My bone marrow will be harvested from me
·
Lastly, my bone marrow transplant will be performed
On
Thursday my Mum and I flew up to Pretoria to meet my transplant team and to
have a few tests done to assess my current health. Thank you Mands Dutton for
being so wonderful and for carting us all over the place- you are so special! I
will be having my entire treatment at Netcare Pretoria East Hospital in a
special transplant wing. For every procedure I will be in isolation and on a very
special low bacteria diet. We had a very chaotic day and met one person after
the next and had test after test- exhausting! I had an ECG (test that checks for problems with the electrical activity
of your heart), a lung function test, a chest X-Ray and heart sonar.
This is where the magic happens!
Love this quote in the one waiting room, "Happiness is found in peace, love and joy. Live for today!"
Mum with our bag full of test results and manuals
Me during the lunch function test
I also had to have a lot
of bloods tests done to check for various diseases and to check my cell counts.
The Nurse at the laboratory panicked when she saw my blood form because every
single little block was ticked on it and she’d never drawn so much blood in one
sitting before. My veins weren’t in the mood to participate, each time the
Nurse filled two vials my veins would run dry and she would have to try another
vein, anyway we eventually got it done and I left with bruises galore. It’s so
hot in Durban and it’s not often that I wear long sleeves or jerseys so my arms
are often exposed, I find that whenever strangers catch sight of my bruised arms
they stare! And I mean really stare! They probably think I'm some kind of
druggy from Point Road. Also a cashier behind a till once asked me if someone
had tried to steal my necklace (I only realised once I got to my car that she
had obviously seen the scar on my neck/throat) ha!
My transplant team
consists of a dietician, two nurses, five Haematologists, a social worker, a
financial adviser and a medical aid representative. Everyone is really kind and
I feel very comfortable! I got such a big fright after ready that silly manual
that I blogged about last time, it really is so much to take in and digest
without a medical professional guiding you through.
·
Tomorrow my Mum and I are heading up to Pretoria and I will be
admitted to Hospital
·
The rest of the week I will have the high dose of chemo
·
The following week I will have the bone marrow stimulation drugs
·
Depending on my bone marrow levels, I will be harvested on
either the 2nd, 3rd or 4th of February
·
Return to Durban on about the 8th of February
·
Last minute wedding planning to wrap up – yikes!
·
We get hitched! Woo hooo!!!
·
We go on honeymoon for 8 days of pure spoiling and relaxation!
·
The day after we get back from honeymoon I go back to Pretoria
and I will start prepping for my bone marrow transplant.
I received the most
beautiful gift from Che from IndieBerries (www.indieberries.com) who is all the way in freezing London! It was hand delivered
this afternoon via Mom-Indie-Berries and Dad-Indie-Berries, thank you SO much
Che for thinking of me- you truly are a gem! I can’t wait to get doodling in my
doodle book J
Treasures!
I
will have my tablet and laptop with me in
isolation so I hope to update my blog every few days to keep you all in the
loop! Right now I'm sitting in the sunroom with the fresh breeze blowing in and
the jack russells at my feet, the last bit of freedom before the isolation
ward.
I feel like I'm going to be living in this bubble like Sandy from SpongeBob Squarepants!
This is what I feel I look like! ;)
Have a good week friends!
xxx
Ah my Kirst I am so proud of you! Keep up the positivity my angel & soon this will all be over. 2015 is your year - only good things coming your way. Always here for you xxx
ReplyDelete