September 6, 2013: What a Difference a Year Makes

What a difference a year makes.  Last August 20^th, Kris and I were at the hospital with a nurse, a doctor and our friend and Pastor, Lee Hovel.  Kris’ immune system wasn’t recognizing the cancer as a foreign entity.  She had just gone through 10 days of chemo and full body radiation to destroy her old immune system and to give her a chance of having a bone marrow and stem cell transplant engraft.  The transplant was an all or nothing, swing for the fence.

 

She was fighting for her life.  She was fighting for her family and her future family.  And today, a year later, against long odds, Kris is still swinging.

One year post transplant is a huge milestone.  A patient’s survival odds increase exponentially if they’re able to survive the first year.  Kris underwent several days of testing on the 20^th to assess where she’s at in the recovery process.

Yesterday we met with one of her doctors and reviewed the results of those tests.  It’s really, really good news:

–          100% engraftment.  The transplant was 100% successful and Kris’ bone marrow and immune system have converted over to the donor cells.  This is an important recovery marker because it means there are not two immune systems and blood types fighting each other.  Her bones and marrow are one, big happy unit.

–          No cancer in her bones, marrow or blood!  Last summer her bones and blood were riddled with cancer.  Today, there’s no trace.

–          No cancer in her lungs and abdomen!  Same story.  Last summer her lungs and stomach had large amounts of cancer.  Today, that’s all gone!

A clarifying point:  Kris had been diagnosed with Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (CTCL) 10 years ago.  What prompted the need for the bone marrow and stem cell transplant was the transformation of the CTCL to Large Cell Lymphoma.  Earlier this year, the CTCL represented and she’s receiving treatment to manage that.  Currently she has no Large Cell Lymphoma present.   The fight continues!

 

Today, we would like you join us in celebrating the news we received yesterday.  Kris and I would also like to thank you all for your love, support, prayers and encouragement.  We have a long way to go yet, but she’s reached a major milestone.

I’ll end with more great news:  Since April of last year, Team Kris has been working with Be The Match to add people to the National Bone Marrow Registry and to try and give people like Kris a chance to keep living.  In the past year, 5 heroes that registered with Be The Match at a Team Kris donor drive have been selected as possible matches.  We are humbled and honored to be a small part in giving 5 people a chance to keep swinging for the fences.

 

Ken