Were you guys sending Susan platelet-boosting vibes this weekend? Yeah, me too!
Let's all kick it up a notch because you-know-who's lab results were basically unchanged from last week. Ultra-low numbers mean no chemo, which means the whole process gets stretched out.
According to Susan, Dr. Foreman actually used the word "worried." No one wants to hear that type of language from an oncologist! After hearing that, she was bummed enough to:
a) drown her sorrows with some retail therapy, and
b) call me from Costco to request that I update the blog with this crappy news.
What's really troubling is that this slooooooooow platelet production problem may prevent her from doing an autologous bone marrow transplant. That is, harvesting her own post-chemo cells, zeroing out her white blood cells, and then transplanting her own now-clean cells back into the mix. (Is that mostly right, Suze?)
So...there's a chance she may need to find a bone marrow donor who has the same 12 key markers she does. Sure, CoH will check the national bone marrow registry, but her half-Asian-ness could make finding a match more difficult.
Let's be proactive! For instance, if you have any other half-Caucasian/half-Asian friends, why not start sucking up to them now? In a few months, they may be more than happy to audition to be Susan's donor.
I don't have all the details, but the initial test for donors is just a swipe with a swab on the inside of the cheek. The actual donation process does not take long. I'm sure Susan will give us the full poop.
The good news is that Susan feels great, platelet-challenged as she is. She'll head back to CoH next Monday for another blood test.
Platelets, people. THINK PLATELETS!
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Thinking PLATELETS and wishing I were half-Asian. Maybe we should all get swiped whether we're half-Asian or not, you never know??
Thinking about platelets and any half-Asians I know, but you can swipe me any time.
Hang in there. Perhaps your platelets are just slower than expected. Maybe they didn't get the memo yet.
Fingers, toes and everything crossed for next Monday. Prayers continuing to go out to Jesus, God and the whole universe!
I'm 1/4 Asian...does that count? :)
Aunt Susan-think of it this way, you may get to search for your donor after all. Which, as you originally hoped, may bring about some funny stories!
Love you!
Sue, check this out.
Every bang of the drum is a new platelet. Taiko is high energy stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7drXUYqncg
My prayers are with you daily. Love ya!
I just emailed all of the half-breeds I know in the Bay Area to see if they are registered in the NMDP. If not, I'm dragging them to UCSF tomorrow!
Miracles can happen. We are thinking platelets, platelets, platelets!
Love, Anne and Ed
I'm thinking PLATELETS, too, and, like Emmy, I'm also thinking I'll get swiped just in case ... who knows ... I don't think my Mom is the Payton place type, and everyone says I look just like all the women in my dad's family, but who knows ... maybe one of us has a genetic secret in a dark closet of our being that will make us a perfect match?!
Susan can have my bone marrow anytime. If I matched, she'd be entitled to honorary Mexican status. I seem to remember hearing that we all have Asian genes from far far back. How soon can this search for bone marrow candidates start on the web?
Where and when can we test?
Susan,
I've been in the bone marrow registry for years, but not once have I been called for even a cheek swab (the next step to try to match you to someone after they have the basic blood typing info on you). I guess that means I'm really weird--or else we of Scots-Irish descent are especially healthy.
When you first described the treatment protocol and schedule, I thought "Wow, great! They really have this down to a science." Like everything was all "under control." How we fool ourselves, huh? Even when things seem to be going "according to plan," it's probably a fluke.
I think about you every day. And wish I could send you all my spare platelets.
Love you,
Diane
I'm up for a swipe!!!!! Let's go PLATELETS!!!! Thinking of you and your platelets in abundance.
love ya!
Hi Susan,
Thinking about you and hoping the platelets status changes soon...I am Dutch, Irish, English, German, Austrian and Polish so if that matches anything, bone-marrow wise...!
Lisa C.
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