Tuesday May 26th.........NEW NEWS

Charmaine will not get to come home today but may be able tomorrow if her platelets continue to rise on her own without a transfusion.

We did get some very encouraging news today.

The Drs. are very pleased with her #'s and the way her body is reacting to the chemo. One even said he would not be surprised if she was already in remission(which means more ready for the bone marrow transplant and all the cancer cells have been killed).

Today, we found out that next week she will be getting a bone marrow biopsy to check the cancer levels in her bone marrow which is most accurate way to know. This is happening 1 chemo round earlier than it should. Her main Dr. also said they were starting to narrow the best donor down and get the process started of locating them ect. Sometimes the best match is from another country!! They fly the marrow in and can freeze it for a while if necessary.

She has felt great for the past 2 days, nearly normal physically and mentally.

I have been praying that God would lessen the effects on her while getting chemo and the days after them. He has answered that prayer as they are much easier on her each time and she is bouncing back much faster. I have also been praying that God would shorten this difficult journey for her. The news today may be that answer. The Dr. told her today that she may only have to stay in the hospital 4 weeks for it, if all goes well. Originally we were told to expect 6 to 8 weeks here. Please pray that God would let her body accept the transplant with few side effects. Also pray that God would select the best donor and guide the Drs. to them even if He has to shut some doors for them to be found.

We are not niave about the bone marrow transplant. The chemo treatments getting ready for it are much more intense than the ones she is on now. After the procedure is done for some time lots of potential side effects may flare up. She is anxious to have it done now and is excited about today's news. This is a very serious complex and dangerous procedure but it is her only hope to be cured from the type cancer she has and live a normal life.

More good news today also. We have heard that for 2 or 3 months after the transplant that we would have to get a place to live here no more than 5 minutes from the clinic. Today the Dr. said we would not. It is exactly 36 miles from our door to here. Normally I can drive it in 45 to 50 minutes.


More later,

Sam