Laura had her two days of photopheresis and is back in Leesburg. She sounded pretty upbeat when I spoke with her, but I imagine she's pretty tired. 

She was able to get one treatment done on Monday -- due to a scheduling glitch (not her's)...which was good. And then she had one today. 

Next treatment will be next Tuesday and Wednesday. Then Thanksgiving with the fam! (Wish I could be there... Or, they could be here.)

She drove back to Leesburg after her appointment. She has some good friends in Leesburg who often fix her dinner on the night she comes back. And, they did tonight.  I sure do appreciate those people. Sendin' a hug to them!! 

Keep prayin' that things make a difference. 

Thank you!

Photopherisis Next Week

Laura went to Atlanta earlier this week and had her "line" put in.  She also went to a class on how the Photopheresis works.

She will go to Atlanta on Monday to be there for an 8:00 blood work appointment on Tuesday. That will be followed by the photopheresis.  The photo below describes what happens during the process.

As of right now, she will go to Atlanta once a week for two days at a time for eight weeks. At the end of eight weeks, they'll see how she's doing and decide how to proceed.

Please pray that her body decides to straighten itself out and that she will be relieved of the pesky Graft vs. Host disease.  Dadgummit! I think it's about time for her to feel really good.

Thanks so much!

Will update as I learn more.

Long time no communication....

Hey Y'all,

Sorry about the long time between posts... 

Quick little update here:

Laura started this school year with a bang. She has been very busy with lesson plans and extracurricular activities.

A few weeks ago, she got a cold which, long story, short turned into pneumonia. With a fair amount of rigamarole, she finally saw her doctor at Emory who (in addition to her local oncologist) recommended that she take short-term disability to straighten out a multitude of issues related to her GVHD (Graft v. Host Disease). Some of those issues are: dry eyes, joint issues, and a significant decrease in her lung capacity. 

They want her to go up next week to insert a "line" (kinda like a port, but I can't remember the official name) so that they can treat her with photophoresis. That means, that they will remove her blood and treat it with a light treatment of some kind. Her line makes that possible. They take out her blood and put it back in after the photophoresis. She'll have to go weekly for 2-3 days at a time until they feel like she no longer needs to go.  They're also giving her some meds for the issues she has with her joints (can't remember the name of that either.) It's pretty bad stiffness in her joints. 

I feel pretty good about her taking some time to focus on straightening out her GVHD. And, I feel hopeful that they have some treatment options to help her feel better.  I would appreciate it if you would pray that insurance approve it, that this treatment is successful and that it works quickly. It would be nice not to have to drive to Atlanta every week.

She's a GoFightWinner!, though... :-)

We appreciate you all.