Seattle Road Trip

Michael, with Sue in tow, flew to Seattle last week. They spent two days at the University of Washington Medical Center-Seattle. They were the guest of Sean, and wife, Laura McCann and Mike McCann. The McCanns, boyhood friends of Michael, made the visit much easier and getting around a snap.

The purpose of all this was to meet the doctors and staff at the Medical Center and prepare for the bone morrow transplant and recovery. There was bad news and good news that came out of the session. The bad news is that the cancer is very aggressive. This will require additional chemotherapy, pre-transplant, and then the use a donor for the transplant. This procedure is more complex and has more variables than using Michael's own cells for the transplant.

Now the good news, the donor transplant produces better results and the expectations for the duration of a state of remission is much longer! The recovery time, post transplant, will be extended to four months, about twice the time as we initially thought. So time in Seattle will be extended for Michael's outpatient treatments and recovery.

The Social Services from the Medical Center provided a tour of housing options and Sue was impressed with the facilities, their location and choices . There is a Shuttle Bus service that loops from the Medical Center to housing units and will make stops at shopping locations.

Michael experienced two full days medical exams, process explanations, facilities visitation and his required activities and contributions that will be needed for a successful transplant and recovery. Sue was on the same schedule and then added the housing tour.At this time Sue jumped on a plane and went back to Anchorage for a rest. Michael will spend some quiet time with the McCanns and take in some of Seattle and the local area.

The Medical Center has started the search for a donor match. It will take at least six weeks to get to a point where the transplant will be scheduled. This will allow time for Michael to take the stronger chemo and get his blood count down to acceptable levels.