There is a waiting list at the Ronald McDonald House and we are #20 on that list!!! WOW are they busy! But, we are staying with a co-worker of my Aunts and they are very sweet Christian people! God has provided us a way here, a car, and a place to stay! Isn't He an awesome God?!
Jerry is here with us until the beginning of next week, when he will return home. He needed to be here for support, but also for the big decisions that needed to be made for Kyle's upcoming care.
Kyle has undergone many tests this week to create a baseline of health before he undergoes super intense chemo to kill off all of his cells including his stem cells and complete immune system. They will then replace it with the new umbelical cord blood cells (x2) and hope they graft. He will be in the hospital for about a month and then be outpatient on a daily basis for blood products and GCSF which is an agent to help boost his white blood cells.
He will be very ill and suffer many mouth and G.I. sores. He will be miserable, but they will try to combat this with pain meds. He will be on many different medications from steroids to antirejection agents, to chemotherapy drugs. All of which have many side effects. He will need your prayers more than ever over the next 2 weeks.
Kyle is scheduled for transplant on August 22. It is nothing more than a blood transfusion of the new cells and takes no more than about 20 - 30 mins. It is done right at bedside. It's a momentous occasion! Giving him new life! This time he will get 2 cord bloods instead of 1 like last time. This means he will get more cells and a better chance of fighting off the leukemia. However, it also carries with it a greater risk of Graft vs Host disease which is similar to rejection and carries a miserable set of side effects itself. We will watch for this for quite some time. A little GVHD is good, it means there is a fight going on and the leukemia is being destroyed, but too much carries great risk and he is at risk for this. Lots of prayers are needed.
We will continue to give him the Glyconutrients and they will assist his body in the recovery process and against many side effects as they did last time. We have faith in this, we've seen it before with Kyle and with myself. This should make things much easier on Kyle! I'm very happy about this!
We are still in need of airline miles and your contributions into Kyle's Fund. We still need to fly Sean and the babies and one adult out here at the end of the month and no way to do that, as of yet. We need your help to do this. I wouldn't ask unless it was deeply necessary!!! Thank you for praying about this and considering helping us with this challenge.
As always, we appreciate you all! Please contact me if you have miles to donate and visit the Kyle Fund Page if you feel called to help in that way.
I will keep you posted as things progress. As it stands now, Kyle is scheduled to receive his new central line and be admitted into the hospital on this coming Tuesday. He will start Chemo on Wedsday and continue chemo until his transplant on the 22nd. After that, we wait and then on day 21 after his transplant we do a bone marrow biopsy to see if his graft has taken or not. Pray pray pray.
