Next Week

Jeff will be admitted back into the hospital on December 19th for his bone marrow (aka stem cell) transplant. He's expected to be a guest at Hershey Medical Center for about 25 days. The first week or so will consist of very intensive chemotherapy, which is meant to completely wipe out Jeff's immune system. The chemo will be followed with the transfusion of Mark's stem cells, which will probably take about 10 days to start making new blood in Jeff's body. During the interim, Jeff will need transfusions of red blood to carry oxygen and platelets to prevent bleeding. White blood cells do not get transfused, so once again, Jeff will be very susceptible to infection. After Mark's cells start working to produce blood, they will see Jeff's body as foreign, and to some extent, will attack his organs. This phenomenon is termed "Graph Vs. Host Disease" or GVHD for short. (The "graph" is Mark's cells and the "host" is Jeff.)

Hopefully, because Mark is an identical related donor, and Jeff is young and strong, the GVHD will be minimal. However, there is no sure-fire way to predict how Mark's immune system is going to react to Jeff's body. Although GVHD can, in severe cases, be life threatening, it also works to keep leukemia cells from flourishing. So, a mild case of GVHD is actually a good thing, and is linked to lower relapse rates.

After Jeff's counts recover and the GVHD is under control, Jeff will be discharged from the hospital to his sister's house, where we will need to stay while he is monitored several times a week by the Hershey docs. When they are comfortable enough with his progress, we'll be allowed to come home.

I'll be posting a mailing address for Jeff as soon as I have a room number. I'm sure he'll appreciate any notes of encouragement, but please do not send fresh fruits or flowers. Immuno-suppressed patients are limited by what they can eat and touch - both fruit and flowers can harbor bacteria that may be harmful to his recovery.