Plans for the NIH

First of all, our condolences to all those Bronco fans here in the great state of Colorado. Everybody is busily gearing up for this afternoon's Super Bowl festivities, but the season ended for the Broncos 2 weeks ago. Take it from a hard core Minnesota Vikings fan - life must go on, no matter how bad our teams embarrass us.

Secondly, a HUGE THANK YOU to everybody who helped us with our move. We have only been in our new house for 10 days, but we are already about 98% "moved in". Jo is straightening the office as I type, but other than that, there is not much left to do. Having Anna's room on the main level of the house has been an absolute joy.

Lastly, our trip to the NIH is in progress. We will fly to Bethesda, MD on Monday, February 13th, Jo will be seen once more by the doctors on the 14th, and she will be admitted to the NIH hospital on Wednesday the 15th to begin treatment.

Jo will be put on one of three paths, chosen at random. Since this is research, several people have asked if there is a "placebo". There is not. Jo's path of treatment will be made know to us when she is admitted, but she is not allowed to request one path over another.

Each treatment path is a slightly different form of immunosuppressive therapy. The medication will suppress Jo's immune system, hopefully allowing her bone marrow to recover.

Each treatment path would also require a slightly different length of stay, but 10 to 14 days is what we have been told to expect. The longest they have had anybody stay recently was 3 weeks. We have been told that the first couple of days will be like the worst flu you have ever had times 10, but Jo's body will quickly get used to the treatment and by the end of the first week, she should be allowed to leave the hospital during the daytime to see movies or do light sightseeing.

Jo will stay at the hospital each night until we return. She is then required to make an overnight trip back to the NIH to see the doctors at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and once a year for the first 5 years.

We are extremely excited about finally having the opportunity to take action toward a solution. Jo and I both feel very confident that the results will be positive. The NIH has made great strides over the past 10 to 15 years with Aplastic Anemia and we feel very fortunate to have their services as an option.