Life is like a box of chocolates...

By the time that most of figure out that the hokey pokey isn't what it's all about, we're pretty well aware that life isn't a free ride

So today was the day to see if Emmah was going to be ready to harvest, they were to draw labs looking for a marker (CD34... what ever that is) to be at 20. We had gone in on Friday for them to do a blood draw and look at it then... it was 3.92 and today was supposed to see which direction that marker was going be it south or north. I was hopeful that it was in fact heading north. I should've known given how the day started out that... well...

Okay, on Friday we were told to make an appointment for Monday (today) for 7:30am. Fine, I do. That means leaving the house around 6am... no biggie. Traffic was actually pretty smooth and we were exiting before where the back up was beginning.

We actually arrive upstairs @ 7:25... shockingly for us five minutes early. We're like the only ones there. Hmmm... So we end up waiting... and waiting, and in the end, we didn't get into a room until 8:30.

So Mark (the nurse) calls us in and it comes up in conversation that we've been here since 7:30 and I told him that we were told to be here at that time. He sez, "I don't know why you were told to come in that early because we don't start seeing anyone until 8. Hmmm... He draws that blood and takes it to be sent to the lab.

We then talk with members of the stem cell team there and play the "what if" game with them. They finish up with us and so we're left to wait until the results come back.

If it was 20, then they had a room all ready for us and she would be harvested today and tomorrow with us going home tomorrow afternoon/evening. If it wasn't 20 and heading north, then we'd have to come back in tomorrow so they can check it and we'd continue to do so until it reached 20. If it was heading south, then we were to go home and prepare for plan 'b' which is for her to get a high dose of cytoxan.

So after waiting for a couple of hours we got the news that the CD34 marker went south (it was under 2) and to go home and plan on coming in for plan 'b'. They are better able to mobilize stem cells coming off a high dose chemo than over a lower dose chemo. As it stands today she (and I) will be going in on Thursday to get that high dose chemo... then we will proceed (as per protocol dictates) getting her ready for harvesting. They (stem cell team) are fairly confident that they/we will be able to harvest after her getting the high dose. UNfortunately with the high dose, she runs the risk (and real possibility) of losing her hair again. UGG!!

You never know what'cher gonna get.

KEIYTAP