Shocking News

Over the past couple of weeks, Nonnie and Papa have been anxiously awaiting the phone call to return back to UCLA for the cord blood transplant. Finally, all of the authorizations were taken care of so we could move forward. Her doctor conducted all of his tests, and decided that the best possible cord blood match was the unit in Spain. It looks like she will go in on Monday to begin her next treatment.......

If you remember back a while, her sister Carol was tested to see if her bone marrow was a match, and unfortunately, she was not. Carol would have been the best possible match, but to be sure, he requested that Mike and Lisa give a blood sample last Wednesday to double check their compatibility. Lisa had the opportunity to see what it was like to be Nonnie for a day. She was poked and prodded by what may be UCLA's newest student! After several unsuccessful attempts at drawing her blood, another nurse came over and drew 4 vials of blood. Lisa is hoping that she will be the "perfect match" so she can take over Mike's position as "Nonnie's favorite".

Earlier that morning, Nonnie and Papa went to get a bone marrow test to get her final blood counts as protocol to start up again next week. The doctor was joking around, and said "wouldn't that be funny if your blood samples returned, and your platelets have gone up"? That evening, Lisa called her mom to tell her about the experience, and that she had a bad feeling that her blood was misplaced by the scattered nurse. Nonnie called her doctor to let him know that all 3 of their samples were completed and asked him to verify that all of the samples were labeled correctly.

It typically takes up to 3 days to complete the blood tests, but he obliged, and went to the lab to put Nonnie's mind at peace. When he called her back later that evening, he had some news that shocked even himself! Up until now, Nonnie's white and red cells were virtually non-existent, and her platelets were at dangerously low levels. This is why she needs the stem cell transplant via cord blood. The doctor told her that her white and red blood cells are in the "normal" range and that her platelets count is at 75,000! What does this mean? It means that she does not need the transplant, and that she will begin her consolidation treatment as planned on Monday! This is by far the best possible news and this procedure not only gives her the least amount of side affects, but is also the safest and has the best long-term outcome. There is no medical explanation as to why her counts went up as they did. Praise God!