Genetic Love Connection

(No Chuck Woolery, please.)

Patience isn’t something you learn once; it’s a vigil we must re-learn over and over again. Leukemia in the time of COVID-19 continues to teach us the turtle’s way.

Like: being OK with not knowing which lovely human(s) sent a magical turtle to our dwelling, filling it with bright cheer.

Or: having Julie’s transplant date in flux again. No longer June 1 or 2, we actually have no new date, just a “not before mid-June” timeline.

And: learning how a generous blood donor’s cells from Germany can’t quite make it to the states right now because there aren’t enough contiguous flights running. Frozen stem cells need a smooth international travel route, and COVID compromises this path.

Or: being chill about the possibility that if the flights can’t sort out in the next three weeks or so, Julie may need another in-hospital round of high-dose chemo to keep her leukemia in remission while we wait for new cells to arrive.

(Those cells are shuffling around like some eager 8^th grader at their first school dance, excited and terrified about leaving a table of friends. These cells want to break in, mind you, are driven to cut in on the deadbeat loser cells, to kick leukemia genetic mutations and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) factors off the dance floor for a cure, but are waiting for the right introduction. A love connection, man. But without Chuck Woolery, please.

In the meantime, we’ve had some very encouraging conversations with our oncologist and the transplant nurse navigator coordinating the blessed event. (It will be blessed, too. We’ve opted to have the hospital’s chaplain oversee the ceremony, when our German friend finally arrives at the door.)

Julie’s leukemia relapse rate is “way below” 10% as is her chance of getting secondary cancer from treatments. Ironically, one of the cancers we’ll have to watch for is MDS, which is what we’ve been told went diagnosed last summer and started this particular chapter of her story. Yet when a respected team of docs and nurses say “way below 10%” that’s something to celebrate!

Emotions are running high these days in the Moser dwelling. There’s a lot of unknowns ahead, yet the outlook is incredibly positive given Julie’s risk factors and how quickly her MDS moved to leukemia. Some people her age never get into remission long enough to be considered for a transplant.

It’s in this state of flux yet overwhelming thankfulness that we live in at the moment, while also feeling so much love from all of you, fellow Camp Kickass warriors!

More soon!