Jodi checked into "the bubble" (stem cell unit) at the hospital Today 06/20

Jodi successfully entered the hospital to start the autologous stem cell transplant (using one’s own stem cells to transplant one’s own bone marrow)

Thank You:

Jodi has expressed a great amount of gratitude with regards to all of the outpouring of love and support by her friends and family. Thank you, Thank you and Thank you for all of your support, emails, phone calls, good vibes, payers and thoughts! It has been felt and helped. I assured Ed and Jodi that I would express this on the blog but as you know, there are no words that can express the gratitude Ed and Jodi have for all you. So thank you!!

Updates:

Before I describe the process and what she will be going through over the next couple of weeks I should probably update everyone on how she has been doing / responding thus far. The bone marrow transplant process deserves a post all on its own. 

First things first, the update:

Jodi has had nothing short of a miracle thus far in her treatment. Her body's response to the medications has been beyond what anyone expected. Her cancerous cell have nearly halted in their progress and the correlating cancer marker cells have declined 10 fold.

Also the negative side effects have been way less than expected. The medications (chemotherapy) thus far have been Velcade (Bortezomib),  Revlimid (Lenalidomide), and Dexamethasone and all of these medications have a long, long list of side effects, many of which are very commonly seen in most  patients.

Now we are known for hyperbole at times but it is no exaggeration that thus far the only side effects that Jodi has experienced from her medications have been fatigue, weakness, and mild occasional delirium (short term memory loss and or confusion, that is temporary and reversible). Jodi feels that she has had hair loss but she definitely has not lost her hair. She has experienced some hair thinning but still has a full head of hair and no large clumps of hair falling out like often seen in patient’s on these medications.

She has had minimal pain and has continued to remain considerably active definitely tired.

I have seen patients on these same medications end up completely bed ridden and moaning in pain and plagued with complications that are quite serious. She has been blessed to avoid these issues.

Here bad numbers have improved and good numbers have gotten better as far as her lab work is concerned. Her kidney function is normal, her calcium levels are normal, her hemoglobin is normal. She is on a trajectory at this rate for a fast induction into remission and a positive outcome.

She successfully completed her pre- autologous stem cell transplant (using one’s own stem cells to transplant one’s own bone marrow) chemotherapy cycles and has entered the next phase of her treatment. This phase includes hospital admission to the stem cell bone marrow transplant unit where she will have her own healthy bone marrow transplanted back into her bones.

What is going on now and what is the next phase: 

I will add another post dedicated to the transplant process that Jodi started today. Stay tuned for more……..