The Cancer's Gone! Cassie's follow up PET scan results are good!

FROM KURT: Cassie had a follow up PET scan on Wednesday and the results still show no sign of cancer. With this positive review and the donation from Carrie we have a green light for Cassie to start the transplant process on Monday. This is all good news but it's hard to be excited because of the grueling road ahead for Cassie. The first 8 days of Cassie's next hospitalization include 2 days of chemotherapy and 4 days of overall body radiation just before receiving her sister's cells. The recovery for this procedure means Cassie may not be back to our house for 3 months. One month at the hospital and 2 months staying minutes from the hospital in LA. So why go through all this when Cassie is in remission? Fortunately, this can be answered by thousands of stem cell transplant recipients that had Cassie's same diagnosis and have gone on to live long lives, free of relapse. Without the transplant, risk of relapse is very high.

Today we said good-bye to Carrie. She is happy to be going back home and I'm sure her husband and kids feel the same way. We are so grateful for the life saving gift she has given Cassie. Cassie's dad is here with us for 10 days and he will be helping make this weekend a special one for Cassie.