Just a few days after Christmas Dan & Laci brought their two kids Zak and Layla to my house while they went to a Dr. appointment at Good Samaritan. I will never forget the look on Laci's face when she walked through the door. They had just been told that Dan had an abnormal Philadelphia Chromosome and that he would continue to produce cancer cells unless he could receive a transplant. The alternative was death. The transplant is a 50% shot. Pretty grim news after thinking you were going to be in remission after chemo and you would be home free, other than coming in for check ups to make sure you are still in remission. That was a lot to take in. A transplant could only take place if they could find a donor match and in order for their insurance to pay for it, it had to be a sibling.
The doctors were aggressive the only hold up was authorization from the insurance company. Siblings including myself, Jeremy Omerza and Jessica Williams were blood typed and I was the match. Jessica and I both have nursing babies. This posed yet another hardship. The donor must receive daily Nuepogen injections for 5 days. This is a painful process. This drug ramps up stem cell production and pushes the stem cells out of the bone marrow and into the blood stream causing bone pain and other side effects. While on this drug the baby cannot nurse. God has a way of helping people through hard times as He has with us. Jessica was able to store her milk to feed my baby during the donation process.
During this time Laci and Dan have been on a roller coaster of emotional stress as well as needing financial assistance for monthly bills and the myriad of special supplies and cleanings that they will need before Dan comes home. Laci has been pushed to her limits. Sleep deprivation, exhaustion and an overwhelming feeling of responsibility to care for Dan, her family and prepare the household for Dans return as a cancer patient is what she faces everyday. Laci has expressed her gratitude many times for the help she has received from many people. This help will need to be long term if this family is to survive.
If the transplant is successful their is 100 days of intensive care that will have to take place including managing the many anti-rejection drugs, daily cleaning processes, careful food preparation and careful watch for any symptoms of the dreaded Graft Versus Host disease associated with bone marrow or blood stem cell transplants. Graft Versus Host disease can be anything from a rash to death.
Dan has received my stem cells and is doing well so far with the transplant. We have great hope and faith that Dan will pull through and be able to return home to his kids. Dan is only 27 years old and has a 6 year old son and a 2 year old daughter that miss him very much. They need our support. Any support we can give. Emotional, financial, service. Thank you for reading our story.
