We're in Memphis and I started a Caringbridge page, so you can go there to keep up with our story! www.caringbridge.org/visit/maccarr

As of last week, have a tentative date for Mac's transplant! Let me stress tentative, because it's dependent on so many factors falling into place. Mac has 2 matched unrelated donors who have agreed to donate their bone marrow, and some of this is dependent on them passing everything on their end and agreeing to the timeline. We know the first choice is a 23 year old male who lives in the US. All he knows about us is Mac is an 18 year old male with aplastic anemia. So Mac and I will go to Memphis May 31 and do about 2 weeks of preliminary tests - they will test every inch of his body and get baselines. (I remember these from 2009 when we thought we were going to transplant... eyes, ears, lungs, bones, heart, etc. Nothing is left out!) Then on June 14 he will get admitted to the transplant floor for 8 days of chemo and radiation. Day 0 (the day he gets his new bone marrow) will be June 23. After that, there will be more immune suppressing medicines (this time suppressing the new bone marrow from attacking his organs) and we wait for it to engraft. If all goes well, he will be discharged sometime about a month later. We will go to the Target House in Memphis for several more months, and day 100 will be the ticket for us to come back home to New Orleans. Certain parameters will have to be met by then, and if they are, he will not need to be checked as frequently. I haven't gotten this schedule in the mail, which means it's all tentative (and even if I get the firm schedule, things can change!) But after years of knowing this was on the horizon, it's good to have a plan.

Mac has been fine with this so far, he's joking about once he loses his hair, he may choose to keep shaving it and stay bald but grow a long beard! I guess it's good he's a boy and doesn't care much about hair! He's excited about graduation, and we are very proud of him for all he has accomplished. He's got some great friends who know what he's facing and who will help keep his spirits up during the yucky times.

I'm going to be switching to a caringbridge site for the transplant, so I'll put the link on facebook and this blog when I get that up. Thanks for reading, and keeping us in your prayers! I keep thinking about the young donor, and pray he passes his medical tests, and is at peace with what he's doing. It's kind of cool that if he ends up being the donor, he was not old enough to be on the registry 7 years ago, and now he is and is a perfect match for Mac. Maybe there was a reason we rode this roller coaster so long before committing to transplant...

There is good news and not so good news... so the good news first. Mac got into Rice, Tulane, Texas A&M and Ga Tech & LSU and he has told Rice he will attend. We are so excited for him, it's been his first choice since we visited 2 years ago. Now the not so good news. We confirmed that he will need a Bone Marrow Transplant in the near future, and this summer is the best time. It is a natural break in his life, and though he is ready to move on to bigger and better things, the time is right to fix a problem that obviously is not going away. We could continue to tweak the medicines and his bone marrow could hobble along for a little longer, but that just adds toxicity and more complications in the long run. So transplant it is... Big risk, Big reward. Mac has several matched unrelated donors, so that is great. We don't have any firm dates, just that it will be this summer with his graduation in May being our top priority. Since the transplant team has time, they are going to start with the donor's availability and work backward. As a general guideline, transplant will mean about 30 days in the hospital, 4 months in Memphis, and 1 year out of school. If all goes well, he will be slowly feeling better after the first 4 months, and we will be able to be home as he gets stronger. They compared him to a newborn, and we will keep him out of the world as much as possible for about a year. Then... he moves on, with a working bone marrow and completely new immune system. This is huge, it's what I've been dreading for 6 1/2 years, but it's the only way to go. And the fact that Mac will be going in strong and is still young and fit are all marks in his favor.

Unless something else develops, I won't update again until closer to May, when we have a better idea of the time table. Until then, keep Mac, and his new donor in your prayers! Mac is handling this new plan in his usual manner. I know he is extremely disappointed about taking a year off, because he is a scholar at heart and really loves school. His elation at being accepted to Rice was short lived because 1 week later we had our meeting at St. Jude. But he doesn't show it; and he said he won't dwell on it. He has a lot of fun and celebrating to do for these last 5 months of high school! He has an inner strength and character I can only dream of having and I certainly wasn't that mature at 17.

Thanks as always for checking in and keeping us on your prayer list! I know 6 1/2 years is long time, and now I'm asking for more. But I am sure that it is all those prayers that are getting us through this extreme roller coaster ride!