There and Back Again
After a couple weeks at home, we are back at UWMC. Steph's liver and kidney numbers have been on the rise again and they have decided to admit us today to keep a closer eye on her. The toxin buildup from the liver injury is causing some mild
Day 33: Home Sweet Home
After 20 days in the hospital, Steph was discharged yesterday, September 4th. This also happened to be the day that my cousins Ray and Kristi where back in town from their anniversary Alaskan cruise. We were able to swing by my aunt and uncle's home straight from the
Day 31: 100% Donor
One of the recent blood count tests was to count the CD3, CD33, and CD56 natural killer cells and see what percentage were existing and what percentage are newly created by the transplanted stem cells. The results are in and 100% of these key cells are from the new stem
Day 26: Long Days
Today marks 26 days since transplant and 14 days at the hospital. Progress has been slow, but steady. The liver numbers have been slowly improving each day. There was discussion around Stephanie having sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) which is a complication that can occur post transplant. It is some liver
Day 19: Beware of Rockslides
Today marks one week since being admited to UWMC for a neutropenic fever. While that sent us here, Steph has actually not had a fever since being admited. She did however experience an increasing shortness of breath sensation that led to an investigation to find that there was some fluid
Day 14 Update
We got to hit pause on our daily clinic visits yesterday as Steph hit the magic 100.4 degree temp Monday night that dictated admittance to UWMC. The good news is that the temp didn't last long (just long enough though) and she will most likely be cleared
Day Six: Hello Neutrophil
We are currently on day six post transplant and Steph is doing really well. As mentioned earlier, we are in the watching and waiting phase of the transplant process. During the process her own blood making stem cells where wiped out and replaced with the donor cells. Those donor cells
Day One - reBirthday
"I'm a little nervous this morning", Steph said on our commute into Seattle yesterday morning. "That's understandable" I laughed. Yesterday marked the 160th day of the battle with acute lymphoblastic leukimia. That counter was reset to zero or "Day Zero"
Me and My Guinea Pigs
One of Julie's school projects this last year was to author, illustrate, and publish her first book. Me and My Guinea Pigs is the culmination of her efforts! She first authored her story and then illustrated each page using Procreate, her Apple Pencil, and her iPad. She then
Conditioning
As of yesterday, we have started the condition phase of treatment in preperation for the blood marrow transplant next week. Steph was eligable to participate in a clinical study that replaces traditional high level doses of total body irradiation with an infusion of radiated moniclodal antibodies. This is designed to
