David had a consultation at UCLA to find out more information regarding the bone marrow transplant. It was a very long day. He was very nauseous driving in the car and it’s a long drive.
Some of the interesting information we heard was:
They will have to do extensive tests and confirm that David’s other organs will be strong enough to tolerate the chemos that David will be given to prepare his body for the transplant.
Once a donor is located. They will have to completely kill all “active disease” of the leukemia and David’s existing bone marrow. David will have to go through chemo and radiation (including the brain). He’ll have to come back up for an additional consultation with the radiation therapist.
They will then give him a one day break to clear the chemo out of his system and then through an IV, give David the donated marrow. It will take 3 weeks for the marrow to “grow” and mature. They will give David transfusions and antibiotics and keep him in “reverse isolation” until his body is strong enough to fight again.
He will be hospitalized a minimum of 4-6 weeks and then have to stay close to the hospital at a local hotel or hospice.
He may incur some sort of rejections which they call “graft vs. host”. It can attack his skin, liver & intestines.
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| Waiting for the oncologist at UCLA |
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