Hi Everyone. I wanted to give a little update about what's
coming up for me for treatment in a couple weeks.
In June I found out that my cancer is in remission - after 5
and a half years it is finally gone! While this was a relief to get to, it also
led to a summer of intense treatments, and to a decision that I had to make
about the next steps of treatment. It caused a lot of anxiety and panic for me,
and there has been a lot of back and forth with myself and my doctors at both
Dana Farber and in NYC. I have decided to go forward with the Autologus Stem
Cell Transplant at Dana Farber. I will be starting my stem cell collection on
September 30th, will be going to Las Vegas for three days to do a work
presentation on October 4-6, and then coming back and going inpatient into
Brigham and Women’s Hospital on October 8th for at least 3 weeks. I’m nervous
and trepidatious, but I’m trying to focus on the hope that this will hopefully
give me a chance to be off treatment and keep this remission for at least a few
years- if not forever. I have about a 50% chance that I can hold remission for
5 years with this treatment. My doctors think this is my best chance with what
we know is currently available.
I’ll be using a website to coordinate help like childcare,
meals, and other needs during the month of hospitalization, two following
months of home quarantine, and subsequent up to a year of restrictions and
recovery. My lifelong best friend, Emily, will be getting notifications from the
site as well to help with answering questions and being a point person to keep
things centralized. I’ll be continuing to update needs as they come up, and
this week there will be a bunch of additions to the calendar as I’m getting
final reports and plans together for both help in the hospital and help at home
with Lochlan.
This summer has been a rough one, and
this fall and winter are going to be tough, but I'm hoping that I'll be on the
mend quickly and will be able to stay healthy for a long time to come. Feel
free to ask me any questions. I'm happy to share.
Below is the link to the
website with more info and help calendar. You can sign up through here to bring meals, or help with care for Lochlan, me or the house. There is also a link for donating if that is something you can do. We appreciate all your support and help. Thank you.
https://www.giveinkind.com/inkinds/D0U5A7Y/help-during-kezia-s-stem-cell-transplant
