Another week down and this one was definitely not the easiest. 

I started my fertility treatment last weekend and it’s going exactly as planned. Fertility meds are no joke! I am up to 4 injections a day right now and hopefully will be done by Wednesday (1/31). I had 2 follow up ultrasounds this week to look at the follicles on my ovaries and measure them to see how they are progressing. Everything looks good and I am scheduled for my egg retrieval procedure Wednesday! 

On Tuesday I had a follow up appointment with my hematologist at Fred Hutch to review my plan for transplant and she mentioned my initial date with the transplant team might move up to 2/5. They want to get me in for transplant quickly so I have the least amount of transfusions as possible prior to transplant. My labs on Tuesday showed that I needed platelets so I received a platelet transfusion. 

Friday was my recheck day and it was rough. Usually the lab at Fred Hutch is efficient—I am usually in and out within 15 minutes, however Friday was a different story. I was in the lab for over an hour, received 7 different pokes to try and find a vein that had blood return. They were able to place an Iv after the 3rd attempt but it had no blood return and they could only flush it. After trying every trick in the book, they still couldn’t get it. 

I went through 4 different nurses and finally the 4th one was able to find a vein in my wrist that they could draw blood from. After that fiasco I went upstairs for my transfusion as I needed RBCs and platelets. My IV failed within the first 5 minutes. Luckily this time, one of the IV specialty nurses was able to start an IV on the first try. 

My transplant coordinator and physician explained that my plan for transplant has changed. Instead of using a peripheral Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation (HCT) donation (a process close to a blood draw), they now want to do a traditional bone marrow transplant. This means that they will take bone marrow directly from my donor (Kira’s) pelvic bone because it reduces the risk for chronic Graft vs host disease (GVHD) post transplant. Kira has selflessly agreed to go through this procedure and be my donor despite this change. I am grateful for my beautiful sisters who I would be lost without. I am grateful for a second chance at life because of them and ultimately Kira who will be my donor. 

Challenges have created the opportunity for me to view life with a more delicate and treasured lens and I am beyond blessed to be living this life. Thank you to all of you who have continued to support and love me through this! I love you all and couldn’t do this without you!