Jerry's Bone Marrow Transplant
After living with leukemia for 35 years, in January of 2010, my father-in-law Jerry developed an aggressive lymphoma that threatened his life. After receiving countless chemotherapy and radiation treatments throughout 2010 and the beginning of 2011, Jerry was in remission, but for how long? In March of 2011 the decision was made to undergo a Haploidentical Bone Marrow Transplant at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center in Baltimore, with bone marrow donated from his son Chris (my husband). This is the story of how our family worked together to give a man another chance at life.
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The Installments
Originally written to share our experience with our friends and family as it was unfolding, these installments are archived here for everyone to read. It is a story of hope, strength and even luck. Today, Jerry is healthy and leukemia and lymphoma free.-
The process begins with the decision to move ahead with the bone marrow transplant but there is fear and uncertainty about whether it will work, and if it doesn't how will we all feel?
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Both Jerry and Chris go through testing to see how they will handle the procedure and we get more information about what to expect for the two months in Baltimore. Will Chris and Jerry pass the screening tests?
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Just days before the transplant, Jerry starts the chemo to suppress his immune system for the transplant and Chris comes down with a cold that may delay things.
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A gift from my sister symbolizes the fear and anxiety we are all feeling about the upcoming procedure. Milo announces that it's our lucky day and we all hope he's right.
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A detailed report from the week of the procedure. The prep is exhaustive and the day of the transplant lasts 17 hours for us, but Jerry gets the magic bone marrow and it begins to do it's work in his body.
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Jerry and Chris are recovering from the transplant and we are trying to find humor in everything. We ask for jokes and enter people into a giveaway to win a Team Jerry hat.
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I announce the winners of the Team Jerry hat giveaway and it's our last day in Baltimore. We head home and Jerry and Maddy remain for another month and a half of monitoring.
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Maddy and Jerry remain in Baltimore where they are visiting the hospital daily and checking his "numbers." His white cell count is halfway to normal at 3000!
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It's been over a month since the transplant and the doctors test Jerry's bone marrow to find it contains 93% of Chris's DNA. It seems to be working!
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Two months after the transplant, Jerry is sent home and is doing really well, according to his doctors. Dare we hope that he is cured?
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Six months after the bone marrow transplant, Jerry celebrates his 75th birthday, a day many of us didn't think we would see. He looks great, feels great and we are more hopeful than ever that the worst is behind us.
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