Anyone had any friend/family member undergo bone marrow transplant? (Updated: Apr 7)
 

Any experiences to share?

July 16: 2nd round of chemo starts Wednesday, July 18 and will go on for 4 days. She will be hospitalized for this round of chemo. It will knock out a part of her immune system.

We have a friend of ours who have loaned us her house to use for the next few months. We will be taking her there and limiting her exposure to people after this round of chemo to avoid any potential to infection...

She will be out of hospital for 9 days after this round of chemo and will be re-admitted for the next set of chemo on July 31st. Her transplant is currently scheduled for August 9th. She will be in the hospital for around 8 weeks (August, September) and then for 2 months at our friends place after that (October, November).

July 20: Third day in the hospital today. She has gotten almost all side effects/reactions possible over the last two days. Today it has been better so far - probably because of additional pre-meds she has been getting...or/and because her immune system is getting shut down. 5 more hours to go. She's gonna get another stronger dose tomorrow and is scheduled to be discharged on Sunday.

July 24: She was discharged yesterday. She has bounced back pretty well. One cannot tell that she went through 4 days of near-hell looking at her today. She has doctor's appt ever other day until Monday. She gets re-admitted next Tuesday for next sets of chemo, transplant and recovery. (I wonder if anyone is checking this thread....)

July 25: Just got back from the ER around 11:30PM. She had sever pain in the head earlier in the afternoon that lasted for around 15 minutes and it happened again in the evening. The doctor was concerned since and had us get her checked out at the ER. Back home, they did not find anything out of the ordinary.....probably the remnant chemo and the immune system still fighting in there. Hopefully today is an event-free day...

July 29: Last few days have been pretty event free. She has adjusted very well to the apartment she's staying in. Surprising how quickly she has jumped back. Had a follow-up appt on Friday and all the vitals are looking ok. She gets re-admitted on Wednesday...hoping the next 2 days are as good as the last two.

Aug 3: She was re-admitted on Wednesday (Aug 1). Has had 3 days of chemo so far (different drug this time). Doing a lot better with this one. No side effects yet. Has 3 more days of chemo with 3 different drugs by the end of which her immune system should be fully shutdown. So far so good...but getting pretty nervous about the upcoming days. Next Thursday in particular gives me the chills when both the piglets would be in the hospital. Just trying to stay strong for the next 3 weeks in particular

Aug 9: She has been doing pretty ok so far. Has been having some server reactions and symptoms associated with low counts...but has been holding up pretty well. Is active and playful when not drowsy by the benadryls.

Today is the harvest/transplant day. The brother piglet was admitted at 6:00 AM. Was done and ready to be discharged at 11:30 AM. They need to now process the marrow, filter out the red cells, extract the stem cells, etc. Transplant will happen another 6 hours from now.

Update 2: Still waiting on the doctor to come see us. She won't be getting the stem cells today. It will most likely be tomorrow morning when she gets it. They suspect some reactions so want to do it in the morning when everyone's around. uggh.

Aug 10: The doctors were pretty nervous about some of the things (will leave aside the details) and had done a lot of prep in case of any reactions from the transfusion. However, they did not have to use any of the stuff that they had on standby. As of today, she has received her brother's stem cells!

Aug 13: Things are very good so far. The hair is slowly starting to fall. She will probably lose all her hair in the next week. All the counts/stats check out fine. The wait continues on...for the next 2-3 weeks.

Aug 18:
http://i.qkme.me/3qixc2.jpg

Aug 24:
She's been doing pretty good so far. She's lost almost all her hair but she's not conscious about it. In fact she likes the soft head of hair. No complains of pain, no infection, still eating/drinking. We's on a wait mode now...tick tock tick tock...for the engraftment and the counts to start going up...

Aug 28:
Her counts are really starting to go up. They are nudging higher every passing day. No signs of GVH so far either. Doc said if she continues with the current progress, she may be discharged by end of next week....or earlier! They are already starting to prep her for discharge. She currently has anywhere between 5 and 8 tubes of various meds/fluids connected to her at all times. They are slowly weaning her down on them and switching to oral med in prep to say bye bye!

Sept 1:
Almost there. All her meds are oral now....and it's a LOT! Around 8 meds in the morning, 3 in the afternoon and 3 at night...and most of them will continue for a few weeks/months. Her key counts are in the normal range. Most likely will be discharged on Tuesday or Wednesday. Looking forward to getting out of this place...but at the same time apprehensive to leave this protective environment and be on our own.

Sept 5:
Yay! Discharged!! Now at an apartment close to the hospital that our friend lent us. Will need to be here for another 2-3 months, while she regains her immunity, frequency of transfusions, clinic visits etc. wean off.


Sept 8:
Back at the hospital. Had a fever yesterday night. Called doc, went to ER, had her blood cultures drawn, got admitted...Will be here for the next 2-3 days as long as they don't find anything in her blood cultures...

Sept 10:
Uggh. Had a fever early morning today that lasted an hour. An hour of fever that translates to another couple of days in the hospital. Well, at least the good thing is that we were still in the hospital. Would have sucked 100x more if we had gone home and the fever had spiked later today. Oh well, have to stay under observation at least until Wednesday. Still no sign of any infection/etc (Which kinda sucks...because we don't know what's causing the intermittent fever).

Sept 12:
Still at the hospital. The docs still don't know what caused the fevers so they are nervous about it. She has been afebrile for the last 24 hours. If this continues for the next 24 hours, we may get to go home.....

Sept 13:
Back to the apartment again! Hoping to stay here here for the next couple of months without having to see that hospital again. Clinic visits will most likely be three times a week for the next couple of weeks and then taper down to twice a week. Fingers crossed....

Nov 28:
She has been home for little over a month now and has been doing really good. Her counts have been very stable and looking great. She still is on a bunch of meds and will most likely continue on them for another few months. We still need to limit her exposure to people/germs, take all the precautions (mask outside the house, etc.).

Things have been crazy though...crazy at work, crazy at home, no place in between. Need a break soon!

Feb 17:
Her blood type finally changed this week...from her to her brother's! It was a huge milestone that we have been waiting on for a while now. It was making me nervous for a few weeks now - the counts sliding and the blood type switchover being overdue. But the counts regained over the last couple of weeks and have stayed stable.

Apr 5:
Back in the hospital again :( :( 2nd day here now. Was admitted because of stomach flu symptoms getting worse but it's turning out to be a lot more complicated than that. Pretty concerned about her. Ugggggggh.

Apr 7:
Back home after a 4 day stay. Was quite a scary experience, especially the way her health deteriorated from normal to really bad in a matter of hours. If you see her now, you wouldn't say she was the way she was a couple of days back....

Yes. You know those close family friends that you call "Aunt" or "Uncle"? Well my "Aunt" had to go to the Mayo Clinic for 2 separate bone marrow transplants. I know it was painful for her and involved chemo, but she came through pretty well. It was a rare disease that most people die from, but she did great. They had to remove all of her marrow and than transplant new marrow. It was tough, painful, and expensive for her, but she lived. You'd never know she had it done today, and she just welcomed her first grand kid in to the world.

:thumbup:

How old was she when she went through it? And how many years since?

My uncle was diagnosed with Lymphoma. (about 45 years old) He had tumors removed, chemo and a bone marrow transplant. I know it was painful but I'm happy to say he has been cancer free for over 10 years. He had this done at Sloan Kettering.

She was in her 40s or 50s, and that was close to 10 years ago. Sorry. Had to ask DW. I judge judge time on a before DW / after DW scale.

Thanks Moot. Glad to hear it was successful!

I hope pig is not in need of a bone marrow transplant.

A friend had it when she was 15. It was about 12 years ago. She was only given a really low chance of surviving. She is still here and healthy.

Not friends of family really (though one of my friend's fathers was one of my patients), but i'm a nurse on a BMT unit so I know quite a bit about them. Getting your own marrow back is one thing, getting marrow from a donor is totally different. They don't "take your marrow out" as some of said, they destroy is partially or completely with chemo and sometimes radiation. They put the stored or donated marrow back in through a central line. The procedure isn't painful, but some people have pain related to things like mouth sores, their disease process, or boney pain as the new marrow engrafts. Bone marrow biopsies are quite uncomfortable.

Nope, not me...

Thanks someone. I've been reading a lot about so pretty much familiar about the process. But would also like to hear from some one who has experienced it first hand (or second). I'll be sure to PM you if I have specific questions :hug:

My sister in law had it about 12 years ago. Hers was very different because they harvested her own stem cells. While this is the best, she had to do serious drugs to boost her stem cell production, go have blood taken, the stem cells removed and the rest given back to her thru a drip.
She was at stage 4 at diagnosis time with hodgkins lymphoma. She had many many rounds of chemo first, no other matches for marrow. When they had enough stem cells they put her in the hospital, almost killed her, then did the stem cell transplant with her own stem cellls. This was 10+ years ago and she's still fine.

I'm sure you are asking for a not so fun reason. I wish you and yours the best. I encourage everyone to sign up for the bone marrow registry. I've been on it for around 20 years. Never been called yet, but they do update my info twice a year just in case I'm needed.

I was there helping during the whole process because she and her husband had a business they were trying to keep open and had a 2 year old son. It was extremely hard on her but she was determined to suceed to watch her son grow up. If you want to pm questions that's fine with me.

I'm glad. :hug2:

Thank you :hug:

You are very welcome. While it's hard, living is worth it! She's gotten to watch her son grow into a pre-teen, and be there for all those milestones.

I wonder If I can donate bone marrow, I cant give blood because I lived in the Azores when mad cow out break was going on. :scratchh:

I'm really not sure....prob. not but you'd have to check with a blood bank to be sure.

No, but :hug:

I'm on a donor list though. :)

Wow, Pig, I hope everything goes well. When DD was treated for Hodgkins, we talked to lots of parents whose children were having BMT. As Jill said, the pre-transplant treatment was pretty rough. If the person of which you speak has to undergo chemo and/or radiation, there are some goodies you can get for them that will help with some of the issues. PM me if you're interested.

Whoever it is, here's a :hug:

Who do you hope it is?

No one! :bonk: Well, maybe Summer so Autumn can be left alone. :dontknow:

:hug: that's good to hear. I hope everything goes smoothly for the person. I don't know anyone who's had a transplant. My stepdad had aml. They couldn't get it in remission to do a transplant.

We still have to decide on whether/when/where/how/etc. I will reach out to some of you via PM one of these days. Thanks all :grouphug:

Godspeed :hug:

Yes they are..:( Mostly the hip bone is what hurts since they have to chip it away to get to the marrow. I had a biopsy and my hip was sore for days. First time in my life I wished I didn't have such strong bones, it took forever to chip it. The Dr. said I should be glad my bones were that strong. I told him not today. :lol:
Oh and for anyone wondering, YES it really does look like ground meat. I asked to see it..:rofl2:


Pig, best wishes to whoever needs it done. I had a friend who had it done, unfortunately it didn't help him and he passed away after an 8 month battle with a rare form of cancer, he was 42.

I was diagnosed with severe chronic neutropenia when I was 17. It's a disease that affects 1 in 3 million people - I have the cyclic version. I take neupogen 4x a week (at $400 a shot). Luckily I have been on a study with Amgen (who makes it) since I was diagnosed. The only way to cure what I have is a bone marrow transplant.

I do a bone marrow biopsy 2x a year to check for Leukemia. It's def a hard decision. My docs recommend just staying on the shot. Since being diagnosed almost 14 years ago - got married 11 years ago, have had 3 kids, and live a real normal life. Unless I tell someone what I have, no one would have any clue.

I just share this to say there is always options. I was advised that the BMT is the last thing I should do (and only to do it in a worst case scenario) because of the risks. My 3 doctors are from the Mayo Clinic, Univ of Washington and the MN Dept of health - Infectious diseases division.

A lot has changed though and with technology and research BMT and stem cell transplants are more successful than ever. I had a close friend just undergo a stem cell transplant and she is doing well. She just celebrated her "1" year birthday. She gets ALL of her baby shots again (immunizations, etc) and is truly treated like a child at a well baby checkup.

Best of luck to whoever in your family needs it. Support is huge through all of it. :hug:

:(.......

Ok. I saw the pre edited post. You can't put something like that, in a thread like this, without some explanation. If this thread is about that post (intentionally being genetic in my wording) then my heart aches for you and yours.

I intentionally didn't reply when the post was up because i was hoping that it wasn't related, knowing of course that it had to be.

Brother, wish there was something I could do. I can listen if you need someone to talk to.
(of course i will be gone most of the day but I'll make some time along the way)

Yes, that was my 3yr old daughter in the pic. Yes, this thread is about her. Yes, the day is approaching. Yes, I suck at sharing stuff online (or otherwise). Yes, I'm scared....

Man. I don't know what to say. One of those things you hope you never have to go through.

You have to stay positive, even if you have to fake it, not only for her sake but for you and your wife's. You have to believe that all of you are strong enough to get through this, because in the end, when you do get through it, you will be stronger for it.

:hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug:

:hug: Poor little piglet, going through so much. I'm thinking of you all every day. :hug:

Words seem like so little to offer...

Sorry you and yours have to be going through this. I can't even imagine how frightening this must be. It's not a lot, but you and your family will be a part of what will be some of the most heartfelt prayers I have ever offered.

Hang in there and stay strong. :hug:

Keep us posted as much as you can and as much as you feel is right.

So sorry to hear :hug: :(.

:hug:

:comfort:

:hug:

I will probably re-post her pic later tonight. She can use some some wishes/prayers/thoughts. It has already been a year since she's been on this path, it's just going to get a lot more intense for her in the upcoming weeks.

Thanks for the kind words and positive thoughts everyone :hug:


I realize some of you are not posting because you don't know what to say. I tend to avoid the BWR and prayer request thread myself...because it's too depressing for me...so I understand if you feel the same way about this one! I'm not sure if I should keep bumping this thead....but I might for some time. So please feel free to put it on your ignore if you don't want to see it up top (no hard feelings!)

Keep bumping it. It's not depressing, but I still don't quite know what to say. I pray your little one responds well to treatment and is with you for a long, long time.

:comfort:
We're here for you, Pig, even if we don't always have the best advice :hug:

Pig,
I will :pray: for your little girl for a full recovery and I hope you and your family get through this with as much strength as possible. I can't say I understand how you feel, but my heart goes out to you 100% and your daughter. If you need someone to talk to, just send a friend request, and I will always be there to listen, and do whatever I can to help you through this. :comfort:

Your whole family is in my prayers. :pray: :hug:

I am so sorry she is having to go through this but I will be keeping my thoughts positive.

I will be here for every post. :hug:

http://slickdeals.net/forums/attachm...1&d=1337179138

That's her again...

Time does fly. Seems like I saw her baby pic just a month ago. My thoughts and prayers are constantly with her and with your family for strength. :hug:

In my :pray:ers pig...

She is still in my :pray:'ers pig, such a little piglet :heart:

Aww piggy, hang in there. :comfort: :blowkiss:

:grouphug:

Still thinking of you all! :comfort: :hug2:

:hug: Pig! I'll be thinking of you bunches and hoping she gets well soon! :heart:

:hug:

She's so big!!! I still think of them as little piglets! How old is she now? :)

They are 3 now....time flies!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, encouragement, prayers and support.

I'll probably post updates in the wiki instead of bumping this thread so that this thread doesn't stay front and center. You can sticky this thread if you are interested and checkout the wiki once in a while.

Next week is a big week....will probably post the schedule in the wiki. If anyone has specific questions, please PM me and I'll be glad to share....

:grouphug::grouphug:
Next week's a big weel

:hug2:

Keeping her in my prayers! Good luck next week.

Keeping you all in my prayers, Pig. :hug:

Keeping y'all in my thoughts this week.

:pray: :hug:

Thanks for the wiki updates!

I feel so bad for such a small piglet to have to go through so much! I think about you guys every day!

More prayers for her, pig :hug:

:comfort: :hug2:

:secret: I check this thread all the time.

Glad she is doing well....she is a strong little girl :hug:

Sending prayers for your little girl:)

Good to hear she is doing well.

Ditto. Hang in there piggy. :hug:

:pray: You have an army praying for your sweet girl and holding you all up in prayer/positive thoughts/good energy. You are not alone. :hug:

Go, Piglet, Go!!!

Checking! What type of chemo is she doing?

I'll be checking and hoping and praying :hug:.

I'm glad she is doing so well at this point. It is amazing how resilient kids can be when having to go through so much. I know it is still a long road ahead and she will continue to be in my prayers, along with the rest of you. :hug:

Thank you everyone for your support. I have not been talking much to anyone these days, so it feels good to come here once a while and post updates and to know that I have you wonderful folks to lean on, talk to and may be even ask for help if I ever need to.

We actually just got back from the ER about an hr back. She had sever pain in the head earlier in the afternoon that lasted for around 15 minutes and it happened again in the evening. The doctor was concerned since and had us get her checked out at the ER. Back home, they did not find anything out of the ordinary.....probably the remnant chemo and the immune system still fighting in there.


:grouphug:

She was on Campath. She is following this protocol [clinicaltrials.gov]

:hug:

You have my continued prayers. I don't think anyone hear minds at all if you want to post in the thread instead of updating the wiki.if they have a problem with it I'll go :ninja:on 'em!

That's the longest conditioning regimen I've ever seen. Don't you just hate the term "reduced intensity?" I have yet to see a chemo that doesn't suck. Hoping you're enjoying a few relaxing days as a family before you start up again. :hug:

Keeping you and your daughter in my thoughts and prayers. I hope her transplant is as easy as possible on her little body.

My friend's daughter just had her transplant on July 19th (she is 20 years old.) It is tough but they are doing a good job of keeping her comfortable. She is sleeping most of the day, which is a great thing.

I'm just seeing this thread now. I don't have much to say, but :hug:

your little one is such a trooper. i'm glad to hear she seems to have bounced back from the most recent round so quickly :hug:

Happy to hear she is feeling alright after and is bouncing back to her usual self :) Sorry to hear it was so rough on her for those days :( Lots of :pray:ers your way :hug:

damn..just read your update...poor little piglet :( I hope the headaches are done now.

Say the word. :hug:

That must be scary! :( I'm glad she is okay. You have permission to post in here as much as you want! You are allowed to whine, bitch, and rant here as well! :) :hug:

Like I told you, I am checking this thread. It's pinned and I am watching. I just wasn't sure if you wanted it bumped or not. You're all in my prayers. :hug:

:hug:

Yes, we are checking this thread and saying :pray:er's for both the little piglet and your entire family :hug:
What you are all going through is tremendous and there is no reason for you not to post in here, feel free to do so. I know from my own experience what support I got from people :heart: and there are some pretty amazing folks here in this SD Community that are praying for your little girl and your entire family.

As others have said, rant, bitch, whine, ask questions, ask for help; whatever you need to do; people are here for you :hug2:

So sorry to hear you had to go to the ER! I'm glad they didn't find anything serious, though. Hoping it doesn't happen again!

I hope so too...

I forgot to mention in the wiki. I wore my SD T-Shirt to the ER yesterday.....but I doubt I would be getting a Slick Deal on the ER bill :lol:

Thanks for the support everyone. I'm not replying individually to your posts but I've read all of them and when I feel down I sometimes come here and re-read them (and some of your PMs) again. (If you need individual replies, go to Pig is Awesome thread....I will whore away there :lol:)

Last week was sort of a reality check. It made us realize that it's a long road ahead....

:hug:


When you'd like to escape reality, come join us here. :lol:

Your family is in my thoughts and prayers.

Just stopping by to see how the piglet is doing. Glad to know how well she is handling everything that is going on for you all.

:pray: Glad to hear she's doing pretty well! :hug:

:hug: & :pray:ers

:hug:

:pray:

Did I miss an update? Title says update Aug. 3.

I hope everything is going well for her. :pray:

Thanks guys... :hug:

Haven't posted an update since a few days. Things are going as expected. Today is the D-Day. Her brother is currently in surgery right now undergoing the bone marrow harvest. Been in there since 7:30 AM. Will post an update later today...

:pray: :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray:

One for the piglet, one for the brother, one for each team of doctors involved and one for you & DW.

:pray: the piglet and brother piglet will be ok. :pray:

I will be thinking of all of you extra a lot today!!! :hug:

I'm sure they'll both do beautifully today!

They'll come through with flying colors, after all, they are your piglets. :)

Thinking of y'all :pray:.

Prayers being sent your family's way :hug2:

The brother's done...almost ready to go home. Probably already on his way home. They need to now process the marrow, filter out the red cells, extract the stem cells, etc. Transplant will happen another 6 hours from now.

Thanks for your support and well wishes. Really means a lot to me. :hug:

:pray: That everything continues to go well. I believe that it will ,and two or more agree....:hug:

Lots and lots of :pray:ers for your family. :hug:

You and the entire piggy family are in my thoughts today. Stay strong. :hug:

Sprinkles pixie dust all over the Piglets, to ensure good health and good wishes go with the both of them :heart: and with the Mommy & Daddy Piglets as well :pray:'ers to all of you.
Stay strong, and keep up the determination that all will be well :hug2:

Thinking of you and your family :pray: :comfort: :hug2:

:pray: :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray:

Thinking of you guys. Big ups to your boy and good thoughts for your little fighter.

:hug: :hug: :hug:

:hug:

:pray: :hug:

Please keep her in your thoughts/prayers today. Lots of prep done by the docs....just hoping to not have to use any...

Positive thoughts my friend.

:hug:

:comfort: :grouphug:

Prayer said.

:pray: :pray: :comfort: :pray: :pray:

:hug:

Thank you very much guys. So far so good. Will post an update later tonight.
:grouphug:

:pray: :pray: and positive thoughts going your way :pray: :pray:

Lots and lots. :hug:

Yay! Did not have to use any of the stuff they had on standby! Thanks to the wonderful doctors, nurses, family and friends.....that should cover all you people as well!

Next is the very long 2 week wait for the cells to engraft, to dodge infection, to manage pain, etc..etc.. Long way to go. But today was successful!!

:hug::hug::hug:

You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. :hug:

:hug:

Good!!


I can stop freaking out now! :lol: :hug:


I'm so freaking happy for you guys!! :hug:

all of the family support our cousin specially in his first chemotherapy

:yahoo: Happy to get such a good update! :yahoo:

:yahoo: Fabulous news and happy news Pig :yahoo:

Success is always a good sign :hug:

Glad to hear the day 0 went well!

Very wonderful news! :thumbsup: :hug:

Wonderful news, Pig! Still keeping you all in my prayers!

I'd be happy to crochet her a hat in soft fuzzy yarn in her choice of colors - just let me know! :hug:

Poor baby girl, I hate that she has to go through this.

Give her lots of hugs from me! :hug:

How is brother doing?

Count Stats good = :thumbup:

Hair loss = will grow back = your & Mommy's job to make sure she understands this - and if you really want to make her feel good - shave your head too :D ***well, the thought was worth a try***

She's a strong little girl Pig, a strong little Piglet, and her brother is as well.

Both will come through as troopers through this. In no time, the weeks will have passed, and you will see a remarkable recovery and change in the little Piglet :heart:

Keep the faith and the determination and lots of :pray:'ers are still coming your way.

Just had a chance to catch up on this entire thread.

Prayers for your babies, you and your wife that God continues to hold you in the palm of His hand. :hug:

Good update, sir. Thinking of you all.

Glad to hear things are going well. On a side note, I see the page you linked mentioned Thalassemia; I mention this because in a recent genetic workup my wife had, it mentioned that persons of mediterranean heritage should be screened for this disease (if they are carriers or not); I hadn't heard of it which caused me to look it up at the time. Why am I interested in such things? My half sister died of cystic fibrosis, something you can also be a carrier of (I am not); as a genetic curiosity myself I find genetic stuff like this very interesting.

Sorry i dont know much about this issue. Glad she is doing well. Sending prayers for your little girl, i hope she will get better soon.

Waiting for her to fall asleep so I though I'll reply to some of you guys. I have not been ignoring your posts/pms. Just not in too much of a writing mood these days...but I really do appreciate all your wishes and prayers.

Thank you Claire

Thanks and yep...that's what she has. I have read a lot about it over the last many months. PM me if you have any questions.

We are kinda becoming the trailblazers in our family. No one near or far had twins....then no...no one near or far has/had Thal major....no one near or far have undergone a BMT....wonder wot all we will be the firsts in! Hopefully, it's a good balance of good and bad firsts!


Thank you dear friend of the fishy species...

Thank you for your wishes and prayers..

Thank you very much for your words of support, encouragement and example (of how you have been fighting your battles)!

We have been prepping her about the hair loss and she understand it. I have seriously considered about shaving my head to give her company. My hair is usually a quarter inch long or shorter so I have not problem getting rid of it at all. However I'm not sure if it would help her any. I will ask her one of these days if she would like me to to it just to see what she says. I'm not big on mixing home with work...and would hate to answer questions from every other guy about my shaved head and wouldn't want to lie about the reasons either.Let's see...will cross that bridge when it comes in the next many days.

Thank you SC. You have been a very good friend in all this and it means a lot to me.

The brother is doing pretty good. He sprung back to his normal self within a day. He is running and jumping around all day and it has been difficult to get him to give his back a rest

Thank you very much AM. The very fact that you offered means a lot to me

Thank you Jenni

Thank you Schoobs...we started on some hospital games with her a couple of days back....with the medicine cups

Thank you

Best wishes for your cousin!

You say you stopped freaking then you say you're freaking happy. Which is true??

Thank you and I appreciate you checking on me regularly


Thanks :) :hug:

Tried to do a huge multi-quote reply...smileys exceeded :(

Copy pasted the whole post into notepad...Pasted it back in two posts...but smileys were gone :(

But...there was a :hug: for everyone in almost all the above replies. (No wonder I ran over the image limit! :lol:)

I had no idea there was a smilie limit. Guess I'm just not a very happy person :sadwalk:

But :hug: back to you!

There is a 10 image limit per post. When I tried to multi-quote all the posts on this page, the posts themselves exceeded the image limit :lol:

:hug:

With all you have on your plate right now, you might not have heard this but one of the Olympic athletes who won a medal has Alopecia. She chose to go without her wig for the medal ceremony. A lot of people found her story quite inspiring. Maybe her story would help your piglet to cope with her own hair loss. :hug:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2187395/Joanna-Rowsell-suffers-alopecia-refused-wear-wig-accept-gold-medal.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

The fact that you have two unoccupied brain cells that remember to post here at all is a miracle unto it's self! :hug:

I have Beta Thallesemia. About 16 years ago I had some routine labs done and my red blood cells were all small and "wonky". The Navy doc ordered a bone marrow biopsy and it showed I have Beta Thall. They told me not to worry too much about it but to make sure that my children were tested when they got older, as they should not have children (if they are a carrier) with someone who is also a carrier. My children both tested negative.

I am blonde with green eyes so it's always fun to tell doctors I have Beta Thall. They always look at me like I'm nuts and say "there's no way you have that." :lol:



Pig, I have no idea why I have it either. My mom tested negative on the hemoglobin electrophoresis and my biological father swears he's negative (never seen his paperwork though). My sister is also positive for Beta Thall but our brother is negative. :dontknow:

:grouphug:

Still thinking about your little Piglet and :pray:'ers still going out her way, and yours as well :heart:

:hug:

Updates thread title (one day early even) but doesn't post in thread. :mad:

Hope everything is going well with the piglets. :hug:

Did not want this to interrupt the "Ohhhhhhh I hate these changes!" threads :lol:

And I fixed the date in wiki but you caught it too soon :annoyed:
Kinda lose track of dates when all the dates are in D0, D1, D2, D3....etc. Today is D14 :woot:

So glad to hear she is doing well pig.

:hug: Great news!! :hug:

Glad things seem to be taking a turn for the better! :hug:

So much :heart: going out to you and yours!

Wishing the best for you and your family! :hug:

Wishing you all the best Pig, she is a strong little Piglet :heart:

:hug:

:woot: glad to hear she's doing so well so far :hug:

Happy to hear of her good progress! :hug:

Glad she is doing well. :) Give her some pig snuffles for me!

:hug2:

:thumbup: I am glad she's doing alright and I will continue to keep her in my prayers. :pray:

Thank you all :grouphug:

Her counts are starting to go up! Day over day they are rising :woot::woot:

:yahoo:

Yay! Praying now that you don't deal with any serious GVHD.

Yes!!! :whee:

:yahoo:

Absolutely wonderful news :groupwav:

I must say this.......you guys are awesome :nod:

Yep....that's the next thing to look for...that and the chimerism.

Had a question...will PM you later...

So glad to know that your sweet, baby girl is doing well! We spent lots of hours rubbing a little soft head once DD's hair started growing back. :D

So glad to hear that things are going well. Prayers and positive thoughts continue for all involved. :hug:

Great news so far. Continued :pray:

:woot: Great news!

So good to hear!

How is she feeling?

She has been doing pretty good these days. Her eating and drinking is getting back to normal. Activity level is pretty good (although it has been good most of the days here). They still need to give her blood (RBC and Platelets) every couple of days or so...and that has to go down in frequency soon...

:yahoo:

Fantastic news!! What a trooper! :rock:

More good news. :woot:

I hope someone is escorting her to the bars at her age.

Pig, the news could not be any better and the outlook could not be any brighter at this point :yahoo:

Continued :pray:'ers for her recovery, that she continues on her way to complete recovery :whee:

What a strong little Piglet :heart: and I'm sure your entire family is quite relieved at this point, with this progress :bounce:

Wow! That's amazing. I'm so glad she is doing better. :hug:

Sure, feel free to PM me with any questions and I'll answer them if I can.

It is so awesome to keep hearing such positive updates. Thanks for keeping us up to date on the progress Pig. :hug:

Glad she is feel well. :) Fingers crossed for lots of healthy blood! :)

I loved reading yesterdays update! :yahoo:

WhooHoo! So glad that the piglet is doing so well! I know that you all will be so glad to be home! :bounce:

:yahoo: <-- your daughter soon.


great news

Such great news!

Good news OP. Thank you - and please keep the good news coming.

Any new news pig?

I could make a killing sell old newspapers to Schooby

You're going to have to let her know that the rumors about me leaving SD are NOT true. Sorry.

Updated wiki. Getting ready to leave this place in a couple of days :woot:

:hug2:

great news :woot:

though I thought you were leaving SD in a couple days. maybe next week :(

That's awesome, Piggy :hug:

Fantastic news, Pig! :hug:

Yay!!! :)

:yahoo: Good glad to hear that!!!