Great News on Marrow! November 29, 2007

Message Posted by Steve & Lynn...

We found out this morning that Matthews sister Nicole was a perfect match for Matt's bone marrow transplant and will be his donor. This is really good news and we should hear over the next week the time line on when Matthew will start the bone marrow procedure. We were all looking forward to some positive news and this is it! Nicole is excited about being able to help out her brother and is more than looking forward to the adventure of the procedure.

The pictures above represent Thanksgiving morning when Matt decided that I really needed to fulfil my promise of letting him shave my head. A great time was had by all with the only casualty being what was left of my hair..

Over the past few days I've grown quite accustom to the bald look and enjoy the fact that my comb hasn't been touched in a week! Please send your posts as to your rating from a scale of 1 -10 (10 being Bruce Willis like) so I can decide if this will become a permanent fixture around the Yantzer household.

More to follow as we learn more about time lines on our pending trip to Fred Hutch.

Rocks and Clots!

The past week of my treatment has been kind of a pain the the... well Arm and kidney's! Monday I had severe right arm pain that ended up being a blood clot that was the result of my PIC line and one of my Chemo treatments. This put my back in the hospital and during my five star visit I also found out what real pain is, when a Kidney stone formed in my left kidney! ouch!!!

Mom stayed with me all weed and when dad arrived for the weekend they sent me home late Friday night. The amount of medicine I'm having to take is really obnoxious and most of them taste really bad. The doctors have been really cool and the nurses are nice and do every thing they can to make sure there no pain in my treatment.

It's good to be home but mom makes me stay right on track with the nasty tasting pills while dad makes me drink water every time he's sees that I'm not. The water helps dissolve the stones with the help of two medications that I'm taking but I'm looking forward making this go away.

Please be patient on my blog postings while I work through this phase of treatment. I'm hoping also to hear this week on the testing from by sister, mom and dad for the marrow transplant that I will be facing over the next few months.

I'll continue to keep everyone up to date on how I feel and I appreciate your kind gift and well wishes that I see every day. It helps to keep me sane and occupied during my time at home during the times I can't see anybody.

Until next time,

Matt.

I will not give up

I know that I cannot do all of the normal outdoor activities that I enjoy right now but don't worry I will not give up on my goal of reaching my eagle in scouts. Because I have this it may take a lot longer but I guarantee that I will reach my eagle. Thank you for your support from everyone and I hope that I will see everyone soon.

bad news

I found out that I have a rare chromosome that is only found in 3 to 4 percent of leukemia patients. the chromosome will make it so i will have to have radiation and a bone marrow transplant. I do not fret on it. I just keep living my life and it really dosen't bother me because there is really nothing else to do. so you just kneed to let the Doctor do the procedure and keep a positive attitude.

I am sorry

I enjoy reading your e-mails at matthew (dot) yantzer (at) gmail (dot) com so please e-mail me. this whole blogging stuf is new to me so it is taking me a while to respond the all of your questons.