The SCCA and Dr. B

We saw my oncologist today. He wasn't up on the facts as far as our good luck with finding a 9+ donor. The reaction to the good news was simple: "That's a great find. You probably can't find better!"

We were pleased to hear that. It means we're on the same page as far as selecting this particular individual.

Of course, there are complications:

1) The SCCA is requesting searches on an additional 15 individuals. It seems odd if we've already found the golden egg.

2) I'm on maintenance and would like to delay the transplant. Unfortunately, general policy states that they won't harvest from a donor and then freeze the cells.

A) This means I have to do the transplant now, or:
B) Stay on maintenance until it stops working, then hope/pray that the donor is alive, healthy, willing, and hasn't already donated before. (Apparently they only use them once.)

So we ponder the new options.

1) Searching for 15 more donors would give us a larger group of individuals who might donate in the future. We can at least put the names in reserve if we can't put the actual cells in reserve.

2) Waiting on maintenance to fail can be a sudden revelation. If my blood numbers suddenly spike in a month, it would be ideal to have done the transplant in the prior month. I don't have a time machine.

3) Doing the transplant right now, even with the golden egg, isn't something I want to do. If I'm gonna be really sick or die, this isn't a really good time. It would be far easier if we were settled in Canada.

Ponder, ponder, ponder.