Jennifer and I got home from her appt. in Columbus about an hour ago. It was a long day with lots of meetings.

Her first meeting was with PT. They got a baseline of where she is in her strength. This will help them understand what she looses through the process of transplant. After PT, we met with nutrition. Again a baseline of where she currently is, how much she is currently eating and what foods she is able to tolerate and how much weight loss she has had thus far.

We then met with her social worker, followed by her transplant doctor, followed by three different individuals who explained clincial trials she qualifies for. We learned Jennifer’s donor is from the USA and that we will be able to have anonymous contact with this individual post transplant and after a year both parties can identify themselves. We also learned her last bone marrow had no signs of leukemia, however since the last bone marrow biopsy will be more than five weeks ago by time of transplant, she will have another biopsy next week. And we learned a set date for transplant (as long as her biopsy comes back still in remission). Originally she was going next week for three days of IV outpatient treatment followed by admission. Because her donor was unable to meet that schedule, that has changed to IV outpatient treatment from March 18-20, with admission on the 21st and transplant on the 28th.

Also the doctor gave me some positive news. We had been told previous that Jen needed to live in Columbus until day 100. He said that if Jen is doing well and is to the point of only needing to be seen once a week, we can return home at that point. This could shorten her stay in Columbus by several days/weeks. For now, we just take it one day at a time.

The first clinical trial they will do with her is where they take a bit of blood several times through the process and watch for signs of Graft Verses Host Disease (GVHD). The trial is to see if there are markers that show up prior to the disease showing outward signs. This also has a baseline that may down the road help them see possible development of the disease.

The second clinical trial is where Jen wears a fit bit for 5 weeks. During this time they measure how much she is moving and see the coloration between activity and recovery times. And added bonus is she gets to keep the fit bit at the end.

And the final clinical trial was one they had measured her for a couple weeks ago. She is to receive a bone targeted radiation that is to protect her organs. She has been approved for this trial and if Jen decides to move forward with it, it will be the plan for her radiation.

So although a long day, we gained a ton of knowledge about the upcoming days, weeks, and months. Jen remains very positive and is ready to put an end to this disease and start living her life again. We are so impressed with her strength and her faith in God and in the staff at the James.