A Little Change of Plans...

Well, we met with Max's bone marrow transplant doctor today, Dr. Davies and we are not being admitted to the hospital tomorrow after all. Despite all of their very best efforts, Dr. Davies and her team have not been able to confirm Max's diagnosis and, in fact, have definitively decided that his aplastic anemia has not been caused by Fanconi Anemia. So, while this is really good news for Max, it is cause to delay the start of the bone marrow transplant process so that they can learn a bit more about exactly how to prepare for and carry out the transplant procedure.

The plan now is for Max to undergo another bone marrow biopsy on Monday afternoon. Looking at his bone marrow again will help Dr. Davies to decide how to approach preparing Max for the transplant...primarily how much and what type of chemotherapy to use.

While this is a bit frustrating because we are literally packed and ready to go, it is good news for the rest of Max's life, post-transplant. The Fanconi diagnosis carried with it extra worries (ie increased chance of leukemia later in life, infertility, etc) which will not be there once Max's transplant is complete. In addition, based on the testing that the doctors have done, they still believe that Alex and Ellee do not face a risk of developing aplastic anemia in the future.

So, we are happy to have another week or so still at home! We will gladly enjoy as much time as possible here at home...although we know that we still have to face the transplant process soon. They talked about the possibility of being admitted a week from Monday, March 9th, depending on the bone marrow analysis and how quickly they can get plans in place, etc.

We'll keep you all posted as things move forward. For now, we'll be here at home if you'd like to contact us (or down at Children's) :) !

Love,
Kristi (and Matt, Max, Alex and Ellee)