So Indian Chief is it...

Lawyer... no way... not me! Too much school, too much money (for school) plus an overall (unfavorable) stereotype associated with being a lawyer.

I can now scratch Doctor off my list too. It is in fact the CD34 marker that they are looking for... the same as the last time.

That leaves Indian Chief...

So the plan (as of Tuesday afternoon) is pretty much what I said in the previous post. Two days of harvest.

We met with the radiation doctor and for all intents and purposes it's going to be pretty much the same deal as the first time around... but less. That is less of an area being radiated... it will still be like 12 visits/treatments.

KEIYTAP

We need backup...

OR stem cell reinforcements.

So here we go again... it will be the same but different.

While the previous pith (pain in the hip) collection was "good", it sadly wasn't enough for Emmah to be on any future trials that would be requiring stem cells. Fortunately for us... we don't need them now and as it stands she wouldn't qualify for any trials right now since she has no measurable disease.

See this post explaining her current situation.

We are at the precipice of the next phase - radiation, but first we need to try and get some more of those peskily elusive stem cells before starting radiation.

At this stage of the game it seems that one can never have enough/too many stem cells on hand. If we had known this when she was harvested the first time that it would become more difficult on down the line to get them, I might have said "hey, let's get some more now then".

Each, any and all subsequent treatments... that is to say chemotherapy or radiation wise... will make it more and more difficult to get stem cells. The more heavily treated someone is, the more difficult it becomes. With that in mind, we've decided to give a new way to harvest a shot. It's worked on some patients that have been more heavily treated than Emmah, so we are hopeful that this will work.

Emmah will be getting a concoction of two stimulation growth factor hormones. One will be GCSF and the other will be GMCSF. One will be IV, the other will be subcutaneous... a "favorite" of Emmah's. We will be going in tomorrow/today (pending upon your gazing of this read) for them to draw labs and check for a marker... and no... it's not a sharpie. I don't know if it's the same marker as the last time, but my guess is it isn't. Then it's on to a consult with radiation.

Emmah will start this concoction on Saturday going through Tuesday. We will go in Tuesday (to check the marker) and if she's ready, she will be admitted. This procedure is done peripherally so it won't be like the last time but more like the first.

All this right before school starts...

KEIYTAP

Psssst...

Check out Rachael's page.

And now for something completely different...

Something not related to Emmah...

HAPPY
BIRTHDAY
NICK!!!!

• When somebody asks how old are you... it now takes more than both hands to respond.
• Two years away from teendom.
• The second half of the name sake of the place with the BIG GULP, SUPER BIG GULP and the SLURPEE.

That's right folks... the BIG 11!