BMT visit

Well, I guess I'll never have it easy, will I? We finally saw the Bone Marrow Transplant department (BMT) and things are more complex than we thought. The whole SCT (stem cell transplant) is really up in the air pending my scan results. Depending on how well I do with these high doze chemos (2 rounds of ESHAPs) I may be scheduled for auto or allogenic transplant. Auto is when they use my own stem cells, allo would be from a donor. Of course, they like to say that they hope for the best (meaning the auto SCT) but plan for the worse (the allo). With that said, if I am not clean on July 10 after this next ESHAP, the likelihood of having an allogenic transplant will be eminent and my chances of survival lessened. The doctors said after a while the body gets worn out with so much rounds of chemo and the onset of other cancers possible, if I am eventually cured. Get this, if I eventually have to have an allogenic transplant the whole cost will be nearing half a million for everything. Mind blowing, huh?! That means when I get cured, I will be worth much more than ever...I will get close to being the million dollar baby :) Another interesting factor in all this is that if I need a donor, it will preferably need to be someone of my ethnicity, meaning from the states of the former Soviet Republics. That makes it more difficult to find someone that will match with me. For now, they want to get the DNA of my brother to see if he is a match (chances are around 25%).

So dear friends, hope you see the magnitude and scope of this kind of dilemma. Thank you deeply for your continued support and prayers. On a side note, Andruysha is doing very well, growing and learning new things everyday. Raymond continues to be superman holding the world together around us. Be good to yourselves, cherish every moment with your families and turn your gaze to the Omnipotent and All-Knowing Creator.