This picture was taken Easter Sunday last year. Not much time for hanging out in the barns these days.

The Fed Ex truck pulled in this morning and delivered a life line. The long awaited drug, Jakafi, arrived and he started to take it today. No immediate side effects. He will need weekly blood draws to track his blood’s reaction to it.

It’s taken me a few days to process but we got a call from Mayo last Friday and they indicated that after reviewing the 2nd bone marrow biopsy thoroughly, they have decided that the best thing for Scott is to pursue the stem cell or bone marrow transplant immediately rather than wait a couple years. Since the procedure requires intense follow-up for an extended period of time, they are encouraging us to look at treatment here in Michigan. I have him registered as a new patient at U of M and we are waiting to hear back. The family that has always been Michigan State fans will have to trust the experts at the Maize and Blue this year. I’ll provide more info on that as we learn the process. His siblings will be tested first, but It’s likely his match will come from the Be the Match program. It sounds like the ideal donor is between the ages of 18 and 35. We will consider having a Match party in the future once we learn more. You know – a free chicken wing or lamb brat for every check swab or something like that!

Scott remains very positive about this change of plan. We fully trust the doctors at Mayo Clinic and have heard many success stories from people that have had the transplants and now have their normal lives back. So we forge ahead!