Sometimes Things Don't Go As Planned

At 8:30 a.m. I received a phone call from Ashtyn’s bone marrow transplant doctor in Seattle. The results came back from her bone marrow aspirate and biopsy done four days ago. There were more cells in her marrow to look at but among good cells, leukemia cells were found. Because she still has cancer, the bone marrow transplant was cancelled. I’m shocked, blindsided, and heartbroken. Ashtyn doesn’t even want to think about it. We stayed in bed most of the day not wanting to do much of anything. Our hope to go into the hospital in one week, receive a bone marrow transplant, recover in Seattle, and return home in September has been replaced with the disappointing fact that all our plans have flown out the window. Tomorrow we will meet with her oncologist to discuss what chemotherapy drugs will be best for this coming month. Our hope and prayers continue to be that the next chemotherapy round will get her into deep remission where she qualifies for a bone marrow transplant that will ultimately keep her cancer free for a lifetime. There’s still a lot of faith and fight left in her but for now we’ll let the tears fall and our heavy hearts mourn.