News on my sister

[QQ]

Dear friends,

I have been in China for about two months. I am happy to report that my eldest sister has produced new white cells for 6 days since her bone marrow transplantation in early June.

I arrived in Beijing in the night of April 23. In the morning of April 24 (Monday), I had my HLA tissue typing test done in the hospital. The result came out in April 27 and is the same as I had done in Honolulu. I had 4 (or 4.5) of 6 matches with my eldest sister (I have one half matches in A, full matches in B and one half (or 1.5) matches in Dr).

Since then, we basically were preparing for the transplant. There is a long holiday week (May 1 to May 7) in China and I could not do anything in hospital. My sister had been on low-intensity chemo since early April. On May 8 (Monday), I had a comprehensive examination in another division of the same hospital and it took more than 4 hours for all different items. The exam also includes a further test in my HLA-A which I had some difference from my sister. Three or four days later, the results show that I am fit for the transplant.

We were first told that my sister will move into the isolation room on May 12. Later on, the date has changed several times: May 15, May 17, and May 19, until finally she moved in on May 22 (Monday). It is in fact not due to my sister. I later got to know that some patients stayed in the isolation room longer than expected. The bone marrow transplantation ward is in a different division of the same hospital, but we had to check out and in again.

My sister was installed Hickman Catheter the same day. Then she had a high-intensity chemo to kill her cells since the next early morning. This 10 day period is called preparation period here. After 4 or 5 days, she felt strong nausea, vomited and even kind of lost conscious in the 6th day. We are very worried. She also has difficulty in her mouth. She could not eat all the tablets since she would vomit with little blood due to a broken throat. The mouth problem continues until today.

I was also preparing at the same time. I had 400cc blood drawn in the morning of May 25 and another 600cc on May 29. At the same time, 400cc from May 25 was transfused back to me. I also got shots to activate my white cells every day in the morning and evening since May 29 until the morning of June 2.

The bone marrow transplant started on June 1. I checked into the hospital the evening before. I was told to avoid food and water since 9pm. Although the surgery supposed to start at 8:30am, it actually started at 12:30pm since there are many different kinds of surgery waiting. The whole process is very smooth and it took only two hours for me (shorter than most other people). I donated 800cc bone marrow and my 600cc blood was transfused back to me. The only inconvenience is that I have to lie in bed without movement and water for 6 hours. I felt OK, ate some food and even walked a little after 8:30pm.

The hospital adopted a combined plan. I had the stem cell transplant on June 2. Totally 12000 cc was circulating and around 120cc stem cells were withdrawn. The whole process lasted from 8:30am to around 12:30pm. I feel easy when less than 10000cc had been circulated. But after that, I feel numb first in my feet, then hand, finally even head. This numbness persists for a few hours. The doctors decided that the quantity was enough for my sister. After staying in the hospital for two days, I then was released from there in the late Friday afternoon.

For my sister, June 3 is the +1 day since the transplant. She still feels the pain in the mouth (the doctor didn’t think that it is GVHD. He thought that it is related to the chemo). On June 11, her white cells were measured at 0.15, and 0.19 the next day. Since June 13, WBC increases very quickly from 1.88 (June 13), 4.2(June 14), 5.3(June 15), 5.2(June 16), 8.4(June 17). I consulted with the doctor and knew that this is also related to the shots used in the last few days. The good news is that my stem cells found their way in her body. The shot stopped yesterday. Today her WBC is 4.8. I estimate that it will probably decrease again tomorrow until finally it is stable.

We are happy with the first step. But we know that the battle will still be hard and long term. I will be back in US in less than 48 hours. My other family members are still here to help. We all love my eldest sister and will always support her and try our best.

[patti]

QQ,

I posted earlier and got kicked out of the server before it could post so hopefully this will get through. Glad to hear you and your sister are doing well. Besh wishes for the days ahead.

patti

[sarah]

Best wishes for your sister. She is blessed. Hope it continues good for her.

[Author]

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