Day +91: Update from the Doctor.

Todd sent a message to his doctor about his appointment for next week and asked what about the plan after She is going to be out on vacation next week, so his appointment is with another transplant doctor on staff at the Cleveland Clinic. She wants him to come in for treatment and to see this doctor even though she won't be there.

She wants to run tests to see if he needs any transfusions, check his chimerism again, and check for any Graft versus Host Disease or Leukemia Effect. So this tells me that there may still be hope that Todd can see a reverse in his chimerism and/or that he can still develop some Graft versus Host to help battle his original bone marrow. 

She also needs these test results to help her determine the next step in treatment. She is still leaning towards doing a second bone marrow transplant using Todd's brother"s stem cells or just his T- cells. 

Overall, Todd has been feeling pretty well. He has been tired, resuming naps and has suffering some nausea even with the Aloxi they gave him the first day before chemo. He remains in good spirits despite the relapse, additional treatments, and our dwindling finances. We continue to trust God to supply all of our needs and he has been blessing us through friends and family and other charitable programs.  

We recently received an anonymous Christmas card with a $100 gas card and a $100 Meijer gift card from a good friend which will go towards groceries. My parents came over and made us dinner. They have been offering to help us in any way possible on a daily basis. Todd's mom also had our family over for dinner too!  Todd's brother and his wife sent us restaurant gift cards which makes it nice to go out to eat! We were also treated to lunch and good company by long-time friends who were happy to pay for lunch, recalling the time we had treated them to dinner after he had just lost his job!  We had forgotten all about it!

The Cleveland Clinic has been good to us  helping with COBRA premiums and providing us with a resourceful social worker. We learned that we are eligible for parking assistance with outpatient care. We are expecting assistance from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with medication co-pay reimbursements. Our social worker has also suggested a few other programs we may be eligible for since Todd is disabled. 

Please continue to pray for us. First that Todd will be healed. Pray for the doctors as they make critical decisions in how to continue treating Todd. Please pray that I can eventually go back to work or find a job when Todd's condition has stabilized.  We are trying to sell what we can and cutting monthly expenses where possible. I'm also trying to decide whether to continue graduate school, which would help me get a better paying job, but at a great cost. I only qualify for an unsubsidized loan at this point. I only have five classes left, with one being a practicum. 

We are taking life one day at a time. It's really hard to plan much further than a week in advance. But God is with us and we are still positive expecting the best!