What is Day Zero?

I have received many questions regarding what exactly "Day Zero" is, in regard to Curt's journey.

When a patient undergoes transplant, there are many obstacles that must be conquered before a transplant can be received. I talked a little bit about it in the last post, but basically in order to receive a transplant, the recipient's immune system must be as low as possible. 

You see, the human body is brilliant and knows when something foreign has entered it. A healthy immune system will recognize the intruder and attempt to rid the body of it. We can see this in the case of an infection. The body senses that something abnormal is in the system, it increases it's soldiers (white blood cells), gets angry (produces inflammation and warmth), and attempts to rid the body of the infection (drainage). 

Well in the case of a transplant, we never want to recipient's body to know that there is a foreign body inside of it. In this case the foreign body will be the donor's bone marrow. In order to make Curt's body accept this marrow as his own is to kill the immune system so that it is too weak to even notice the donor's marrow. This process is only able to occur with the chemotherapy, radiation and immunosuppressants. Curtis will actually have to continue to take immunosuppressants for the rest of his life in order to prevent his body from rejecting the donor's marrow. 

Now as you can see, there are many obstacles that sit in the way of transplant and that is why we call it a journey. The day that Curt receives the transplant is considered "Day Zero". It's almost as if he will have a new birthday. Each day after transplant is counted as +1, +2, +3 etc. The farther away from "Day Zero" Curtis can become, the less likely his body will reject the transplant, and the closer he will be to remaining cancer free.

Because Curtis' immune system will be so weak, and each day counts, he will be unable to have visitors in the hospital as the risk for infection at this time is incredibly high. Being in a sort of isolation will be difficult, but that is where we ask that mail take place of your visits. As soon as we know the address and room Curtis will be in for the duration of the transplant, I will post here for your information.

You didn't know that you would be getting a science lesson through this post did you?

Please let me know if anyone has any questions that we can answer for you.

Transplant Month is Here!

Apologies for the lack of posts these past couple of months! 

After round 1 our family was able to take a well deserved vacation to Myrtle Beach SC, for some rest and relaxation! We were so thankful that Curt's oncologist allowed us all to take this trip and make some beach memories. We were also able to celebrate Curtis and Lori's 30th wedding anniversary as well as Joseph's 30th birthday! 

Quick Recap:

Curtis completed a total of 3 rounds of R-ICE chemotherapy since the last update. Overall he had the worst side effects from round 1 and round 3. Thankfully round 2 was a dream and Curt quickly recovered his counts and got back to his daily routine quicker than usual.

These three rounds of chemo are called induction chemo prior to the bone marrow transplant. In order for Curt's body to have his body accept the transplant as well as prevent further cancer from returning, it must be completely destroyed (the cancer that is).

After the three rounds were completed, he went back for a repeat PET scan which is a test that basically takes a picture and highlights any residual cancer. The purpose of the repeat scan was to identify how well the three rounds of chemo had worked. 

Unfortunately, the cancer had only reduced by 30%, which baffled our family at first. After speaking with the team of oncologists, they were actually pleased that the cancer responded at all. 

We were still anxious as we were told that his body must be virtually free of cancer prior to receiving the transplant. 

Thats where Curtis' next journey comes into play. The Monday after Thanksgiving, he will be admitted to the hospital in Dallas for a week of high dose chemotherapy as well as high dose radiation therapy which should zap the rest of the cancer that chose to hang on. After this week, dad will hopefully be able to receive the transplant. 

Stay tuned for more details about Curt's donor, the process, and his journey to day zero and BEYOND!

Thankful for all of you!