OK - the next step. So, right now John is doing chemo, steroids and something else :) His body is doing fine with it and we want it to keep bring down the white blood cell count for as long as possible. Then, he has a choice to make. Auto vs. Allo (those are the short names for types of stem cell transplants).
Auto is where they take out John's stem cells and freeze them. Then through high doses of chemo and maybe radiation kill all the cells in his body. Then put his that were frozen back in him. It has been explained that it is kind of like a garden and the stem cells regenerate through out his body. He would be in the hospital about 4 weeks and then resting at home about 2 weeks before he could work. Pros are that his body should accept his own cells and there should not be a problem or complications. Cons are that the cancer will come back - could be months, could be a few years.
Allo is a donors stem cells. We are hoping his is matched to either his sister Christy or his brother George. They only test full siblings and then go to a donor bank and do their best to find a close match. They do the same thing and through chemo and radiation kill all his cells and input the donors. He would be in the hospital any where from a few months up to a year. Biggest pro is that he would be cured since it is all new cells of some one else. Con is that bodies do not always accept a donors stem cell. It is a lot more risky.
HMMMMM - ya, well for John only doing auto is not a choice. They can do it a few times, but after 2 - 3 times it stops working and his life may have been extended 5 - 9 years. He knows he will do the allo and take the risk. Just not sure if he will do it first or maybe do an auto once and then the allo when the cancer comes back.
He has great Dr's and they have said it is fully his choice. Don't ask me what I think? I have no idea. It is something that has to be decided, but luckily not quite yet. It will take a lot of prayer to figure it out.
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