15 April 2009

appointment at Vanderbilt

Yesterday Mike and I were in Nashville for my first appointment with a hematologist at Vanderbilt. He's from Louisiana and went to LSU. Good karma there. :-) I liked him and so did Mike. They told me to allow 2 to 3 hours for the appointment. That gave the doc plenty of time to ask me questions and vice versa. He actually took one of the most complete histories of any of the docs I have seen. Now that I have met with him, my case will be presented to the transplant team on the afternoon of Monday, 20 April. When I asked him if he saw any reason they might not put me on the list, he didn't seem to think so.

After that part of the appointment was finished I had blood drawn for lots of tests. Also met with the person who actually does the donor search. Because they already had my earlier HLA tests she was able to do a preliminary search of donors worldwide. The good news is that I have 978 potential donors. Practically what that means is that I am more likely to find a good match. Some people don't come up with any potential donors. She had told me before that a couple of hundred would be great, so 978 is wonderful. It improves my odds. No detail searches will be done until after I am approved by the transplant committee, though.

Now I am in another waiting cycle. I go back to my doc here tomorrow and will likely need platelets and red cells. The Vanderbilt people will get in touch with me next week, probably on Tuesday, but maybe late Monday afternoon to let me know about the decision of the transplant team. Keeping my fingers crossed!
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8 comments:

Southerncook said...

Prayers being said for you that you get the transplant very soon. Hang in there Becky.

Carolyn

Anonymous said...

I'll be praying you get on that list!

Linda said...

Best of luck with this Becky...my prayers are with you...
L~xo

Mary said...

Thanks for the update, Becky. I've been thinking about you. Hope the transplant teams accepts you soon!

Hugs,
Mary P.

Cora said...

Oh Becky, I am so happy hear from you and to hear such good news! Will keep you in my prayers for acceptance and more than one suitable donor.
Love,
Cora

Joanie said...

oh becky, that is the best news! over 900 donors? Wow, that is fantastic. You are sure to find a perfect match, just like I did! I will be praying that you hear good news from the transplant team soon - it sure sounds like you are going to be accepted. xoxo Joanie

Becky said...

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and good thoughts. We were very excited about the 978 potential donors. Now if I can just be patient until next week to hear from the transplant committee. :-)

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

Great news, Becky!! I'm certain you'll be approved, and my fingers will be crossed for that perfect match...