You never know what you're gonna get. And this morning we got one of the really crappy ones.
We had to be at the hospital this morning to get a bunch of tests done, just pre-transplant stuff (blood draw, chest x-ray, bone marrow biopsy, etc.) Well they had just finished his biopsy when the doctor came in and said she had some bad news (never a good sign). It turns out Clint is not in remission :( In fact he has so many leukemia cells that they could tell just from his blood draw that he wasn't in remission. They have decided to just keep on the schedule we have in place for his transplant, since that is pretty much our only option for cure since the chemo didn't work. It does mean that instead of using Darren's actual bone marrow for the transplant we will be having a peripheral blood stem cell transplant. This means Darren will be given medicine for a few days that will make the stem cells come out into the bloodstream and then through a central venous catheter they use a process called apheresis to filter his blood. They seperate the stem cells out and then return the blood into Darren and give the stem cells to Clint.
The reason we were hoping to go with the bone marrow transplant is because it only has a 1 in 3 chance of getting graft vs host disease, and with the stem cells it's a 2 in 3 chance of getting graft vs host disease. But I guess we just aren't meant to take the easy road to recovery! But we will get there! We have a family conference on Friday so we should find out more details about what his not being in remission means for the long term, but we are just going to fight this stupid disease with everything we have! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers, he needs them more than ever right now!
So we needed to end the day with a "good chocolate"! Luckily we had a BBQ planned with some of Clint's friends, which was really fun! Thanks Kevin, Janette, Bryce & Allison we love you guys! Then we came home and had a little 4th of July party. We had been promising the boys we could do sparklers before Clint went back to the hospital (since he will be in there for July 4 & 24) so we came home and played with sparklers and lit some flowers. The boys loved it! It's so fun to see them so happy!
Here they all are enjoying their sparklers!!!
Noah
Nate
Nik
Of course Clint and I had to enjoy a sparkler too!
So just remember that even though you might get some 'crappy chocolates' along the way there are always some amazing ones in there too!!! And our box has got to have some amazing ones left in it because we've had quite a few crappy ones lately!
We had to be at the hospital this morning to get a bunch of tests done, just pre-transplant stuff (blood draw, chest x-ray, bone marrow biopsy, etc.) Well they had just finished his biopsy when the doctor came in and said she had some bad news (never a good sign). It turns out Clint is not in remission :( In fact he has so many leukemia cells that they could tell just from his blood draw that he wasn't in remission. They have decided to just keep on the schedule we have in place for his transplant, since that is pretty much our only option for cure since the chemo didn't work. It does mean that instead of using Darren's actual bone marrow for the transplant we will be having a peripheral blood stem cell transplant. This means Darren will be given medicine for a few days that will make the stem cells come out into the bloodstream and then through a central venous catheter they use a process called apheresis to filter his blood. They seperate the stem cells out and then return the blood into Darren and give the stem cells to Clint.
The reason we were hoping to go with the bone marrow transplant is because it only has a 1 in 3 chance of getting graft vs host disease, and with the stem cells it's a 2 in 3 chance of getting graft vs host disease. But I guess we just aren't meant to take the easy road to recovery! But we will get there! We have a family conference on Friday so we should find out more details about what his not being in remission means for the long term, but we are just going to fight this stupid disease with everything we have! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers, he needs them more than ever right now!
So we needed to end the day with a "good chocolate"! Luckily we had a BBQ planned with some of Clint's friends, which was really fun! Thanks Kevin, Janette, Bryce & Allison we love you guys! Then we came home and had a little 4th of July party. We had been promising the boys we could do sparklers before Clint went back to the hospital (since he will be in there for July 4 & 24) so we came home and played with sparklers and lit some flowers. The boys loved it! It's so fun to see them so happy!
Here they all are enjoying their sparklers!!!
Noah
Nate
Nik
Of course Clint and I had to enjoy a sparkler too!
So just remember that even though you might get some 'crappy chocolates' along the way there are always some amazing ones in there too!!! And our box has got to have some amazing ones left in it because we've had quite a few crappy ones lately!
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6 comments:
It was so good to spend some time with you guys last night! Sorry I had to leave early! I love you guys and you are always in my prayers! Hang in there!
Oh my! I sure wish I could do something to help you guys :( We will keep praying for you and looking forward to the updates. Linds
Hi Amy
You probably barely remember me, but I was one of your visiting teachers for the few months you were in Pleasant Grove. I feel like everything happened so fast that we really didn't have a chance to help you much. Please know that you and Clint and the boys are in my prayers every day, and I am following your progress on your blog. God bless!
Karen
Seriously you guys can't catch a break! Well, I guess we just keep moving forward. You are in our prayers and we'll include you in our fast on Sunday.
We wish we could have been at the BBQ with you guys. Hang in there you are always in our thoughts and prayers. We love you Jeppersons!!!
I'm sitting here with big tears in my eyes. I wish I could have been there tonight to give hugs and well wishes, but I wasn't feeling well and didn't know if I might be contagious...My thoughts and prayers are with you SO much tonight. Hugs, loves, wishes, and hope. May all go well and may you be blessed with comfort and peace. I love you guys more than I can express. Good luck.
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