I just did a pulmonary function test to check for bronchitis, asthma, etc. it went well. I'm now getting an echocardiogram. I will also be having a chest X-ray, EKG, labs, and an appointment with Dr Barrett, the GI doctor.
Ive been getting very dizzy lately. My blood pressure is normally low but is now sky high and my heart rate is up. The nurse doing the pulmonary function said it was anxiety. But I'm going to mention it to the doctor to be safe. And my wisdom teeth are killing me. Something else I'm planning on mentioning.
Tomorrow I am scheduled for an MRI and appointment with Dr Burt's nurse. Wednesday I'm having an appointment with Dr Burt to go over all the test results, etc.
My sister is my donor, however she has IBS. IBS isn't an immune disorder so it shouldn't be an issue but she is having to go through extensive testing to make 100% sure it's not Crohns. This week she is having labs, an MRI, an EKG, a chest X-ray, vein check, colonoscopy, and appointments with Dr Barrett and Dr Burt. If all goes well, we will fly home, she will take self injections of neupogen(probably didn't spell that right) from August 20-23 and will have her stem cells harvested through her blood via a vein in the neck August 23 and I will be admitted for my stem cell transplant on September 4, 2012.
If there are no complications, the transplant should only take 3-4 weeks and I should be home by the end of September. I will start chemo on September 4, 2012. After 8 days of chemo, they will bring in the stem cells. I will then be monitored for their regrafting for 10 says. Then within a few days following, I can go home. I will have to watch where I go and who I'm around for about 6 months. My new immune system should be up and running no longer than a year and they should be able to determine if it was a "success": the donor cells are showing up in my body. However, the donor cells don't have to present for me to be feeling normal again(if I can even remember what that is...) but it will indicate that the Crohns will give me issues again in the future. However, I will be able to start the medications again and they'll actually work because I won't have the antibodies against them in my body anymore. I have so much faith that God is going to make this work for me. How else would it be working out so perfectly? I mean my insurance approved all costs first time and with only a 25% chance my sis could have been a match, she was! And the insurance is paying for her part too! And we got all the donations we needed to cover traveling expenses! You can't deny that it's meant to be!