Erika's Treatment Update -- Week 8

Hi everyone!

Sorry for taking so long for an update, I wasn't feeling so well earlier in the week...

Yesterday I began taking Cyclosporine, which is an imperative drug to the transplant. This drug is given to all transplant patients (heart, lung, bone marrow, etc.) to lessen the chance of rejection. The problem with it, is it has some major side effects and is very difficult to tolerate for some people. Since my first dose I've been getting an extreme burning feeling in my chest, throat, fingers, and groin. Last night it was pretty intolerable and I thought Chris and I were going to end up back in the hospital or the ER, but I took some Benadryl which knocked me out instead. Today the doctor's lowered my dose in hopes that it will minimize the side effects so we will see how I do. This drug is usually taken for a year after transplant so I'm really hoping they can work something out.

Tomorrow I will spend the entire day at Stanford receiving two rounds of radiation, a 5-6 hour infusion of antibodies, and platelets. Friday is the BIG day...I will have my transplant in the morning. The procedure is outpatient and it takes about 2-3 hours. From what I've been told it will be just like getting a blood transfusion. In the next few weeks my body should start engrafting the new donor cells and on Day +28 (transplant is Day 0) I will have a bone marrow biopsy to determine if my body has fully engrafted.

Donor information that I know so far:

• Female
• 53 years old
• Located in Germany (not sure if she's of German descent)
• Blood type = A+ (I'm currently O+, but will convert to A+ in the coming weeks)

Thanks for all the emails, I'm still working on replying to a lot of them so bare with me. I don't have Internet access when I'm at Stanford as an outpatient and I'm there the majority of the time so it's hard to find time to reply to everyone promptly.

Love always,

Erika