1st bit of info

Rosina had a pain in her side and went to get it checked out. They did a blood test, and while the pain seemed to be nothing, her white blood cell count was low enough that the doctor told her to get another one immediately. The result was the same, so she was sent to a Hematologist, Julie Dunhill at Tower Oncology. There, another blood test which led to a bone marrow biopsy and aspiration. Your bone marrow is where your blood cells are produced. The bone marrow test is a ten minute operation where they draw some fluid from inside your bone (like your hip bone) and also pull a piece of bone to look at. This is checked by a couple of pathologists (at Cedars)

We went back in a few days later (June 5th) and got some surprising news. Rosina was diagnosed with Myelodysplasia. There are several types of Myelodisplatic Syndrome, or MDS, but the one that Rosina has, RAEB-1, is one that is on its way to becoming Acute Myelogenus Leukemia, or AML. She doesn't have leukemia yet. There is still one part of the test that hasn't come back, the cytogenics, which give some more specific info about how it's growing and exactly how to treat it. But generally, the treatment starts with about four weeks in the hospital for "induction therapy", which is chemo. You stay in the hospital the whole time as your white blood cells, your immune system, is wiped out. By all accounts, there are good days and bad, but it's tough. This process is to kill the bad stuff. This would happen at Cedars Sinai.

The cure part of it is another step, a bone marrow transplant. This would be done at City of Hope in Duarte. This is a hospital/care facility that only deals with cancer. The Leukemia guy there, Steven Forman, was recommended to us by several people and is really supposed to be the best. We have an appointment with him next week. After that, and once the cytogenics come in, it will be determined when Rosina should enter the hospital. It could be very soon.

A note on bone marrow donors. Matching is very rare. There is a list and we'll be on it. The best match is full siblings. Rosina has three half-siblings which can be considered. The process of donating is a shot, followed two days later by drawing blood; that's it. The transplant to the patient is actually more of a transfusion, but they have to have some serious chemo before it's done.

We have been getting great help from our friends emotionally and also with doctor referrals and feel like we are in good hands on that front. Apparently, Los Angeles is a good place to get sick. Of course, we've always known that, we just didn't want to test it out to this degree. Rosina is in shock, and while she doesn't really have any symptoms, it is a strain. The reaching out from those close to us has been tremendous. We said the other day that it isn't the illness that's making us cry, it's all these people saying that they will do anything for us!

We told Jake and Nina what's coming, Will doesn't know too much, but he will when we know when Rosina's going into the hospital. It's better if it has time to sink in instead of last minute. Logistically, things are okay. Kids are out of school, Sonia's here, and I can ditch work as I need to without much worry.

I will update this with info as we get it, so you all can know what's happening. Rosina is strong, we are all optomistic. It's going to be a bumpy road, but travel it we shall.
-ph

PS - Some of my understanding of the medical things may be off a bit, but the general idea is the same.
PPS - I believe you can leave comments on this blog if you like. You can also email me directly.