Saturday - 23 March 2013

Interesting/crazy but true news from Duke:  Out of  the 10 million international donor pool, there is no match for Douglas Crowder Wheeless.

UNIQUE:  Existing as the only one or as the sole example,  solitary in type or characteristics.  (Mother always  said I was "different")  Old friends from high school, army,  and college are not surprised.

Unusual but not necessarily bad news. The good news is the alternatives that now exist which have an equal chance of success.  The existing alternatives are.

A.  Cord blood transplant (blood from 2 babies' umbilical cords

taken at birth).

B.  Half-match bone marrow from one of my 3 children.

Both options have been equally highly successful.  So,  I have agreed to participate in an NIH study which will randomly select one of the above  options and study my case for the next three years.  I told them that they could follow me for the next 20 for obvious reasons.

What all this really means is that NIH will choose the first type of BMT but if that one should not be successful, we will fall back on the other option.  This will assist NIH in their effort to determine which option is actually the most successful in a head to head comparison. 

As you can imgine,  our kids, Amy, Cam, and  Ike,   are"all in" to donate bone marrow.

 I also had many pre-op tests while at Duke on Thursday which included Pulminary, EKG, ECHO, BM biopsy, and blood draws which required 17 vials.  The results af all these will be revealed by Tuesday and if all are good we will  finally know the schedule.

So continue to participate in "Be the Match" events, donate blood/platelets, and your prayers are appreciated. Amy is hosting a "Be the Match" event at her church in Huntersville,NC.  For information check out www.bethematchfoundation.org/goto/TeamDoug. This event is designed to increase the donor pool overall.

"The more you like yourself,  the less you are like anyone else , which makes you unique."  Walt Disney