Pilgrimage to Denver

 September 30th 2012

Her fingers turned blue. Then red. Then white. Hmm. Her legs were not working and the heaviness and difficulty in moving her body was hard to articulate. She thought, "Something is not right here." Her mouth was always dry, she couldn't eat, eyes burned, swallowing was strange, fatigue was crippling, and she radiated heat that made her hot to the touch and miserable, a picture of suffering. Still, we all thought surely it would pass.

It didn't pass. It grew worse quickly. The doctors finally diagnosed Scleroderma . . . 

Now, after months of appointments and tests, internal organ involvement of her disease, insurance appeals and many tears and prayers, Mom is on her way to the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute in Denver to participate in a Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. There she will be treated by the best physicians in the field in an attempt to help her and also learn more about Scleroderma and a possible cure. 

We have no promises that this will work and the risks are high. First they will stimulate her system to produce more stem cells for extraction from her bone marrow. After they extract the cells and store them, they will deplete her immune system in an effort to kill the bad cells, much like a cancer patient, with high dose immunosuppressant chemotherapy. In the final step they will replace the cells they extracted in the hope that they will grow in number and kick start a whole new immune system, one free from Scleroderma. If all goes well, we hope to see her discharged home by December 3rd. The recovery will take many more months after that as her immune system continues to strengthen. 

Mom wanted to start this blog to keep us all updated on her progress and thoughts as she takes this very scary journey. Please check in and leave comments as she (or I) post updates.  She is nervous and overwhelmed but brave. And we are, all of us, hopeful . . . reaching for His cloak. 

Matt 9:20-22, 14:34-36

" . . . and all who touched him were healed." 

- Ann