So as not to cause worry....

I have the results of the sibling donor matching.....But I'm not going to tell.

Suffice it to say, it's good news.

So, the game still remains. However, I am eliminating the "neither" option. You can bet on Katrina, Erica or both. Here is a recap of the rules.

It's $10 a bet. Either Katrina, Erica or both. $30 will cover the spread.If you are interested in playing, checks can be made out to either me or my mom, and the game will be run by my friend Georgette Muller. This is her email. gmuller5@gmail.comIf you drop her an email, to let her know the check is coming, she will add you to the list, and let you know where to send the check. The game is run as a 50/50. I keep half (hey...I won't be able to work soon) and the other half will be divided up amongst the winners. Bet's can be taken as late as Sunday morning the 4th, but I will be posting the results of the donor matching Sunday night.A few things to keep in mind. 1. Erica says the way the testing probably work, is they will put both blood samples (mine and theirs) into a test tube and see if they fight. This would seem to knock Katrina out of the running.2. On the other hand, this is Katrina. If anyone could find a genetic edge it would be her.

If you want to know the results sooner than Sunday, I am waiting for at least a response of 25 people. (tee hee I'm evil)

So, on to the update.

On tuesday, Mom, Dad, Katrina, Erica and myself all met with an oncologist at Dana Farber in Boston. (This is where Erica works.) This was a second opionion sort of thing. I think it went well. It left us with some questions, but it put our mind at ease about others. They would have done exactly the same things as Dr. Ahmed up to this point. Nothing would have been different. They also agree with the next step of this plan.

The next step involves throwing salvage chemo at it until it goes away. I have two rounds of a chemo, then a PET scan to see what's going on. If I'm in complete remission, I move on to a stem cell transplant. If not, we throw more chemo at it. Dana Farber has recommend that when it comes time for the transplant, we give them a call to set up a consulatation with one of their transplant specialists.
As you all know, this time we will not be using my stem cells for the transplant. Either Katrina or Erica ....or both, will be donating stem cells to me. This is an allogenic transplant. Bit more tricky than donating to yourself, but my cells don't seem to be doing the job.
So here is something fun. The chemo I will be using is called VIPER. (You can imagine the hand signals we have already come up with to indicate viper.) It is a newer protocal and I think it's out of Sloan, although there is a study currently with it out of Columbia. So, there is your visualization. VIPER attacking Fred. Got it?

In other news, I am still trying to graduate this sememster. I will be taking my comprehensive exam tomorrow. It's a 7 hour exam...(6 essays) and I havn't study for it. I anticipated it going well. .... that was sarcastic.
Anyway, wish me luck. More to come later. Keep the bets coming!
-Elizabeth