Keeping up with the Joneses: Competition is in our blood!

Now that it appears my body is tolerating the new, more aggressive chemo regimen pretty well, and assuming the drugs are "quieting" the cancer, the big unknown in this next phase of my treatment is who will emerge as the bone marrow transplant donor of choice.  As many of you know, my three brothers all sent in their blood samples a couple weeks ago and, with zero prompting, each predicted that his sample would prove superior to that of the others.  The "trash talking" has been relentless and I have to say I've been in awe of my brothers' desire to beat out the competition and win the prize.  Wait a minute!  The prize?  The opportunity to go under general anesthesia and have bone marrow scooped out of the back of their left and right hips?  I love these guys!  What would I do without them?

After two weeks of suspense, the results just came in and here's where we stand.  Regg is a full (tissue type) match. Ross is a half match.  And Gordon was less than a half match and has been ruled out.  The transplant coordinator at Johns Hopkins told me how surprised she was that Gordon seemed so genuinely disappointed and how impressed she is by how all the brothers want to do anything and everything they can to help.  So, on we go…  Regg and Ross's samples are now being tested for how well their stem cells are likely to work in tandem with the cancer-fighting drug Rituxan to completely root out my cancer.  Once those results are in - probably next week - we'll be able to come to a final decision on the best donor for me.

Needless to say, Christine and I are incredibly thankful for family, and the fact that we still have at least two brothers in the running as they look for the best fit for me and my condition. Stay tuned!