Recap: AML relapsed... refereed to Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota.
So Andy & I took off Monday night for Rochester. The drive from Sioux Fall is an easy 4 hour drive. It was uneventful, until we exited I-90 and headed into Rochester, we saw a SUV catch the soft sholder and roll over in the opposite ditch. We were in the north bound lane, the other vehicle was in the southbound.
We made a quick call to 911 and I sprinted (more of a lumber) across the 4 lane highway to see if there was something to be done. The SUV was on its side so I could not open any of the doors. I was able to open the hatchback and talk to the driver. She was fine (though she was not wearing a seatbelt) and assited her out the back. Except for a pretty nasty bruse on here elbow (The whole thing was purple) she seemed fine.
Lucky for us, it was still about 40 degrees outside. Police officers arrived in about 5 min and with all under control, Andy & I finished our trip to Rochester. Late to bed... and then up early for a 7:00 appointment.
The Mayo Clinic was a bit different then I expected. I kind of thought it would be a bit more of a sprawling campus. Instead it is a series of tall buildins in downtown Rochester. We met with our Nurse Practitioner. She talked about how the bone marrow transplant (BMT) works and what to expect. We both liked her a lot. Most of which we were already aware of. Then we met with the doctor. He told much of the same story and added some info. They were both very patient and took their time with us. I feel quite comfortable with them. I can't place my doctor's accent though. Hungarian maybe.
They set me up for blood work. They are rerunning my HLA typing which is the first step in locating a bone Marrow donor. (my sister is not a match). I am told there is about a 50% chance they will find a perfect donor in the registry, about an 80% chance that they will find a 9/10 donor. This means somone that is a 90% match. The doctor will not do the transplant if the match is any lower then that.
They also ran my blood counts which are still normal. No indication of anything in my blood work. I had a CT and a PET scan. both are intended to find out if I have anything else going on right now. We want no suprises as I get closer to having the bone marrow transplant.
So with all tests done... we came back a day early.
The next step is to get me into remission again. So next week I will go back into Sanford hospital. I will be able to get my chemo close to home. At the same time, they will start looking for a match. It could take several months to locate and line up the donor. So, once I am in remission and a donor is found, I'll have the transplant at Mayo. I'll write more about that at a later time.
For now, I feel fine even though I have the kids' headcold. Dr. appointment in Sioux Falls tomorrow and chemo next week. We'll enjoy the weekend and take it from there.
Some notes about Rochester (for future reference):
- We stayed at the TownPlace Suites. It was a great location and nice facility. Great rates. Nice pool for the kids if they come down somed time.
- Pi Wood-fired Pizza... great place for a slice
- Noodles & Company... great place for a cheap lunch. Bangkok Curry = yum
- 300 First... great place for a upscale meal. Prime rib was best I ever had ... stay away from the crab cakes.
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