Patiently Waiting

As you all know, waiting is a huge part of this whole process. In the beginning I had to wait for my counts to recover before I could do another round of chemo and to find out if I was in remission. Then I had to do it a second time prior to transplant. And now that I’ve had my transplant I have to wait for engraftment. Engraftment starts when the new stem cells start making healthy blood cells for my body. Right now since my immune system is weak, my body is not making much and will soon stop making any once the chemo fully kicks in. My white count is already zero and will stay that way until I engraft. My platelets are still pretty high, but the doctor said with the chemo regimen they used, they drop more slowly than before. And my hematocrit is holding steady, but low and close to needing a transfusion. So until I engraft, my body will rely on transfusions to keep my blood counts high enough to function and be safe.

 

When you have any type of transplant, including organs, there is always the chance of graft failure. That is where the body rejects the transplant and it fails. The doctor told me the chances of that with cord blood is around 5%, so not high, but it’s still possible. I am on 2 different autoimmune suppressants to help avoid this from happening. These drugs suppress my immune system so that it is not strong enough to fight off the new cord blood cells that it doesn’t recognize. One of the drugs I receive is via pump until day 21 (then it moves to pill form), and the other is an oral pill I take each day (one of the many I take every day).  

 

So as I wait, I am praying and staying hopeful that I will successfully engraft in the next 3-6 weeks. I need all of my prayer warriors to do the same! Love you all!