E
elliottsmama
Guest
I have been emailing Children's Memorial to find out some answers to many of our questions. The email I am going to post below is to show you just some of the things my baby will have to endure and also to show you some of the workings of what we are going through to get him cured. It may answer some of the questions you all have regarding what is going on. If you have any questions after reading this, please ask away and if I can answer them, I will.
As for the timing of Elliott's transplant, we are currently awaiting typing from several donors we have requested. I am not sure if I explained how unrelated donor searches work. We initially identify what donors in the bank are closely related to Elliott's typing based on less comprehensive typing. Once we identify several donors, we request that those donors go to donor centers to have blood drawn. Once we receive that blood we know their "high resolution" typing, which is more specific. We have received 2 donors typing, one who is potentially an excellent donor. We also requested 4 other donors who we are waiting on. Based on waiting for typing, it should be about 4-6 weeks away for us to identify an excellent donor and pick a date that works for the donor. Once we have a date that works for the donor, we usually count backwards to determine when Elliott's chemotherapy should be started. So, I imagine he'll need another round of chemotherapy so we can secure the best donor possible. I am back at work tomorrow after several days off, so I will discuss with Dr. Duerst so that we come up with a good plan, and of course that will be communicated with you. Sometime in the near future we'll want to have another conference with you and/or your husband to determine which treatment course will be pursued. And before he started transplant, I believe I told you, but he will have a bunch of tests that we call his "pre-transplant evaluation" or "pre-eval." That includes the following: bone marrow aspirate and biopsy, chest and sinus xray, hearing test, teeth cleaning at dentistry, pulmonary function tests, blood work, and echocardiogram and EKG. So, I would think Elliott would be ready to start in the next 4-8 weeks and we'll let you know more information once we find it out.
As for the timing of Elliott's transplant, we are currently awaiting typing from several donors we have requested. I am not sure if I explained how unrelated donor searches work. We initially identify what donors in the bank are closely related to Elliott's typing based on less comprehensive typing. Once we identify several donors, we request that those donors go to donor centers to have blood drawn. Once we receive that blood we know their "high resolution" typing, which is more specific. We have received 2 donors typing, one who is potentially an excellent donor. We also requested 4 other donors who we are waiting on. Based on waiting for typing, it should be about 4-6 weeks away for us to identify an excellent donor and pick a date that works for the donor. Once we have a date that works for the donor, we usually count backwards to determine when Elliott's chemotherapy should be started. So, I imagine he'll need another round of chemotherapy so we can secure the best donor possible. I am back at work tomorrow after several days off, so I will discuss with Dr. Duerst so that we come up with a good plan, and of course that will be communicated with you. Sometime in the near future we'll want to have another conference with you and/or your husband to determine which treatment course will be pursued. And before he started transplant, I believe I told you, but he will have a bunch of tests that we call his "pre-transplant evaluation" or "pre-eval." That includes the following: bone marrow aspirate and biopsy, chest and sinus xray, hearing test, teeth cleaning at dentistry, pulmonary function tests, blood work, and echocardiogram and EKG. So, I would think Elliott would be ready to start in the next 4-8 weeks and we'll let you know more information once we find it out.