Day 18, Chemo Round 2 :: Weeks, Not Months

Flashes of Hope captured some sweet moments of our
princess in April.  We thank them. www.flashesofhope.org.

Cord blood may just be the blessing that Jade has coming to her.  Dr. Williams from the Bone Marrow Transplant Team stopped by yesterday to share an update with us.  They have not yet been able to identify an adult bone marrow donor for Jade. There were four adult donors who were in the registry who had a 3-4% chance of being an 8/8 HLA (human leukocyte antigen) match for Jade, but they have been removed from the registry. They have reached out to an additional 12 adult donors who have the potential to be a 7/8 HLA match for Jade, but have not received any responses.  This rate of unresponsiveness is very unusual.

The search for an 8/8 or a 7/8 adult marrow donor match for Jade will continue, but not forever.  Just doing additional rounds of chemotherapy while we wait/hope/pray/beg for an adult marrow donor that is a match for Jade to join the registry is not an option.  Chemotherapy is toxic and would eventually take its toll on Jade's organs, her body, her spirits.

We have weeks, not months. Jade is tentatively scheduled for a transplant in early July. Her immune system markers will continue to be typed against any new donors in the registry daily until then. You can find a bone marrow drive near you by clicking here.  If an adult bone marrow donor match is identified in June, she will have a bone marrow transplant. If not, we will proceed with a cord blood transplant. They HAVE identified a 5/6 cord blood match for Jade already. (I will post more on the pros and cons/positives and negatives/strengths and opportunities of each on Monday).  I don't know. It's impossible to know. But, maybe this is Jade's blessing, her cure.

Thank you for checking in on Jade, who is in fabulous spirits, for your continued encouragement and support.