VANESSA IS A PERFECT MATCH!

Valerie had a great day yesterday which was only made better with the phone call that Vanessa is a perfect match! The test showed that she is so close to Valerie and yet just enough different for her stem cells to see the bad leukemia cells and attack them! She is indeed her twin! From here on out there is a lot of protocal and I am sure red tape. We all have a meeting with Pamela, a social worker, on Tuesday at 11. A stem cell transplant is very special and you actually have to be excepted into the program. This includes Pamela signing off and stating that Valerie is mentally prepared and educated on the procedures. Valerie has been studying all of the books, brochures, and binders she was given on the whole process. I am pretty sure she did not study this hard in college! Transplants are not perfect, a lot can still go wrong and again a strong support system is key. I think TEAM SNAIL is ready for the challenge!

Prayer requests:

This weekend her numbers will drop really low before going back up again on Sunday. Pray the side-effects and effects of having really low numbers will be tolerable. She got a new anti-nausea drug yesterday to try (sample from the doctor which is worth $800) which is supposed to be better than the Zofran. Her headaches are already pretty bad but could get worse with her numbers lower.

Pray the appointment goes well on Tuesday. Let the social worker and the transplant team feel the love and support that Valerie has. Let them feel great about signing off on her to join the program so we can move onto the next step.

Many hands make light work, isn't that the saying well, let the work be light and move quickly so we can get everything set before the 2 week deadline so she does not have to have another consolidation chemo round.

Lots to do!!

On a side note: for those of you who may not know, Vanessa's nickname is Shrew and Valerie's obviously Snail and finally I have one to: I am the Chipmunk! I know what you are thinking and it is not just because of the cheeks! I apparently move quickly and always have something to do. Thank goodness for Vanessa's imagination, it is great comic relief sometimes.

My boys, Valerie's nephews arrive today and with the doctors permission are going to be allowed to see her. I think that Alex's laugh can cure anything so I am sure it will make Valerie feel better. Lukas is practically Valerie's clone so he will know just what to do even if it is just to curl up next to her.