April 21st – Today we met with the transplant staff at U of M. Scott had his blood work done for typing. His siblings will be tested and have a 25% chance of being a match. Fortunately, Scott has four siblings. Brother Dan had his done while we were there today. They will also be checking the International data base. It will be done as a stem cell transplant rather than a bone marrow transplant, which sounds like that’s most common now and easier on the donor. Stem cells can be harvested and frozen for transport and the process is much less invasive for the donor. Dr. Riwes gave us a lot of information to digest about the percentages and probabilities. It will be a difficult 3-4 months that will require us to find a place to stay in or near Ann Arbor. There are risks and no guarantees but Scott is very positive and is looking at the upside of having a chance at 10 or more years of wedded bliss (my words of course) and the possibilities of seeing more grandbabies and trips to exotic places AND Batchawana.

We will meet with the Hematologist there in the next two weeks. She will evaluate his progress on the Jakafi and his spleen health to determine when the right time to do this will be. I will continue to keep you posted when we have new information.

Sounds like we might finally be getting some nice weather so make sure you take time to enjoy it!