WHITE CELLS KEEP CLIMBING!!

Today, I am 27 days post-transplant.

My prayers have finally been heard!

On Sunday, my white blood count was 800. On Monday, it jumped to 1200. On Tuesday, it jumped to 1900 and this morning, my white count was an amazing 2800. Normal adults have a 4000 to 11,000 white cell count so I am getting close to the normal low level.

I am at the point where I can be discharged from the hospital and my doctor has me set to be discharged from the hospital this Friday (Jan. 16th). I am so happy since my white cells had been hovering between 600 and 900 for 2 weeks. Finally we have some progress!

Yesterday, I received the results of my HLA (human leukocyte antigen) test (DNA tissue typing) to see who is taking my body over: Ben from Belgium or Mickey from Australia.

And the winner is Ben from Belgium. Mickey's DNA was not shown anywhere in my blood test. Mickey has died and we need to say a quick prayer for him and thank him for trying his best.

It seems Ben from Belgium was the stronger cord blood. Ben's cord blood was actually collected from birth in October 1996, so he has been frozen for 12 years and was stronger than Mickey who's cord blood was collected last year. Ben's cord blood size was also bigger than Mickey's at 3.23 million cells vs. 2.5 million cells. Ben's cells were given to me first and sometimes the doctors see this as the cells that get a head start and win.

The following is the summary of the 7 DNA tissue typing numbers that show the engraftment analysis between Ben from Belgium and myself. Note that there is no DNA in me from Mickey of Australia. This test is from 21 days post-transplant.

CD19 - 73% Ben / 27% me

CD8 - 98% Ben / 2% me

CD4 - 100% Ben / 0% me

CD3 - 100% Ben / 0% me

CD14 - 97% Ben / 3% me

CD15 - 82% Ben / 18% me

PB - 91% Ben / 9% me

By 100 days post-transplant, all of these DNA numbers will be 100% of Ben. My doctor is now jokingly calling me "Ben" every morning when she sees me. My rashes have spread throughout my body but now they are subsiding since I think the war between Ben and Mickey is over inside my body.

Yesterday, I received one unit of platelets and today, I received one unit of 0+ blood. It looks like my Ben cells are starting to make red cells (it's been a week since I had a blood infusion) but it looks like Ben is not yet making platelets (which take longer to start making) since I am still getting a bag of platelets every 2 to 3 days. Hopefully my red cell and platelet production starts to kick in good like the white cells did.

So far I will be released from the hospital on Friday (2 days) and will still have to return to the outpatient lab every 2 days for a blood test to see if my red cells and platelets levels are acceptable and receive an infusion if not. Hopefully as the red cells and platelets begin to develop, I will be coming to the lab less often. I will be sent home from the hospital with several medications plus I will have to continue an IV (anti-fungal) medication for at least a week. Luckily, I have my Hickman catheter in my chest and it is just a quick connection to set me up with an IV feed. No needles for me!

I will yell if more information comes up. Again, thank you for all who have donated your blood and platelets at the City of Hope for me. May your unselfish generosity be returned to you and your family a hundred fold!