Joe and I made our second trip to Duke on Monday.
This trip was very helpful for both of us. Although nothing new was presented to us we were given a lot more details about what to expect. This allowed me (in my ever planning state) something to wrap my head around.
Joe had more labs done, this time to get his HLA typing in order to begin the donor match search. Joe's sister is going in to Duke this Thursday to get her typing done to see if she is a match before we pursue looking for a match in the general donor bank. (It will take some time before we know the results from this.) We then met with a financial advisor, a social worker and went to a new patient/caregiver orientation - all of this required by the hospital. This was all very informative. We now know what to expect insurance to cover and what is likely for Joe's hospital stay.
Here's the good news:
- Duke's stem cell transplant program is set up in such a way that Joe will not have to be in the hospital for the entirety of the procedure. Most likely it will consist of 4-6 weeks in patient/isolation then roughly two months in a hospital approved hotel/apartment (within 15 min of the transplant center).
- It looks likely that we will not need/be able to begin the transplant process until the start of the year. This means that we would get Thanksgiving and Christmas at home with the whole family. Joe will not be allowed to see Arleigh once the transplant process begins due to infection risk. Obviously, it would be heartbreaking if we didn't have the holidays together, so this is probably the best news we got this week.
- Insurance is covering a great amount of our medical bills. We so appreciate all the questions we've gotten about fundraisers and what we may need financially. Thankfully, fundraisers wont be necessary at this time.
Other info:
We go to mission hospital on Friday to begin chemo. (This is the 30 day inpatient 7 +3 treatment.) We recently found out that Joe WILL be allowed HEALTHY visitors during this time. So if you're in the area and want to visit give me a call or send a text and Ill let you know if its a good time. The only thing they hospital said is that they like to try to have things quiet from 2-4pm.
We've also had some out-of-towners ask about coming in to visit. We would absolutely love to have you. If you are wanting to spend any quality time with Joe we assume at this time either in between treatments (November/December) or after transplant recovery (maybe April/May of next year) would be the best time to plan this.
Joe had more labs done, this time to get his HLA typing in order to begin the donor match search. Joe's sister is going in to Duke this Thursday to get her typing done to see if she is a match before we pursue looking for a match in the general donor bank. (It will take some time before we know the results from this.) We then met with a financial advisor, a social worker and went to a new patient/caregiver orientation - all of this required by the hospital. This was all very informative. We now know what to expect insurance to cover and what is likely for Joe's hospital stay.
Here's the good news:
- Duke's stem cell transplant program is set up in such a way that Joe will not have to be in the hospital for the entirety of the procedure. Most likely it will consist of 4-6 weeks in patient/isolation then roughly two months in a hospital approved hotel/apartment (within 15 min of the transplant center).
- It looks likely that we will not need/be able to begin the transplant process until the start of the year. This means that we would get Thanksgiving and Christmas at home with the whole family. Joe will not be allowed to see Arleigh once the transplant process begins due to infection risk. Obviously, it would be heartbreaking if we didn't have the holidays together, so this is probably the best news we got this week.
- Insurance is covering a great amount of our medical bills. We so appreciate all the questions we've gotten about fundraisers and what we may need financially. Thankfully, fundraisers wont be necessary at this time.
Other info:
We go to mission hospital on Friday to begin chemo. (This is the 30 day inpatient 7 +3 treatment.) We recently found out that Joe WILL be allowed HEALTHY visitors during this time. So if you're in the area and want to visit give me a call or send a text and Ill let you know if its a good time. The only thing they hospital said is that they like to try to have things quiet from 2-4pm.
We've also had some out-of-towners ask about coming in to visit. We would absolutely love to have you. If you are wanting to spend any quality time with Joe we assume at this time either in between treatments (November/December) or after transplant recovery (maybe April/May of next year) would be the best time to plan this.
