On April 20th my sisters were able to make the trip to Memphis, TN and visit St. Jude for the first time. The weekend was fun-filled and the girls got to hold Wesson for the first time since October, before his diagnosis. We had not seen them since moving to Memphis and we felt blessed to be with them again, even if only for a short time.....
Logan was chosen as Wesson's donor for the Natural Killer Cell Therapy phase 1 clinical trial. After a routine physical examination from an oncologist, an EKG/ECHO testing for heart evaluation, several blood tests and health anaylsis Logan was cleared for the procedure. On Wednesday April 18th consents were signed and on Thursday April 19th Logan was hooked up to a pheresis machine for four straight hours. The macine pulled out Logan's white cells -- filtered out his natural killer cells from there, and gave his blood back to him, along with IV fluids and calcium supplementation. The donation went incredibly well and we made sure we took good care of daddy with some healthy chicken nuggets from McDonald's and a large gatorade afterward to make sure his sugar didn't get too low. ;)
Wesson was admitted to the BMT unit of St. Jude on Tuesday April 24th for a 9 day inpatient stay. During this time he was given high doses of Cyclophosphamide (a toxic chemotherapy often used before transplants due to its high toxicity and ability to deplete counts and knock out the immune system. It is extremely harmful to the bladder and therefore is given along with a rescue medication and large amounts of IV fluids) Wesson was also given Fludarabine (a new chemotherapy to his cancer although similar to one he has had). He tolerated both medications extremely well and recieved his first IL2 injection on May 1st and his daddy's natural killer cells on Wednesday May 2nd. Wesson did recieve one blood transfusion while being inpatient, as his counts had not yet recovered from his last round of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, our family had to be separated as nobody under the age of 7 is allowed on the BMT unit. Keegan was able to visit Wesson through the "Fish Bowl". He enjoyed blowing kisses and giving his little brother high fives through the glass....
We were discharged on the evening of Thursday May 3rd -- back to the target house and only to return to the outpatient part of St. Jude less than 24 hours later. We have been back there every day since as Wesson has been undergoing extensive testing and monitoring in preparation for a tentative bone marrow transplant. I say tentative, as it all depends on whether Wesson is in remission or not. Our days consist of 7 - 8 hour long days at the clinic and some exhausted boys at bedtime!
Wesson is currently gaining count recovery -- with a white count of 300 and an ANC of 100. He will have a bone marrow biopsy done on Wednesday May 16th and this will ultimately tell us whether he responded to the clinical trial or not, and what further steps will be taken thereafterward. We simply pray at this point and march forward with a firm grasp on the faith that God has given us and also the hope that the physicians and the clinical trials here at St. Jude have granted our baby boy....
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