Dean December Update

Hello family and friends-

Here is an overdue email from me, updating you all about Dean ☺

Dean had his “anniversary check-up” (100 days post-transplant) last week, and this week we got to officially hear the results from Dr. Majhail—everything looks good on a molecular level, and Dean is “100% donor.” This was exactly what the BMT folks were hoping to see (it is really really good news) !

Today Dean had his central line taken out – another milestone. It went smoothly and well, with not too much pain.

Basically Dean is doing really well. Eating continues to be difficult, mostly because he always feels full (never hungry), and food literally does not taste good. So it’s a constant experiment to find out what will taste at least ok going down, and also settle easily in his belly.

I feel like he is getting stronger every day- able to go for longer walks, able to play guitar for longer stretches at a time. The flip side of this is that many of Dean’s muscles are very weak, and sometime he feels as though he is actually weaker every day- not able to lift certain objects or do certain things on the guitar. This (according to BMT folks) is probably in large part due to the prednisone Dean is still taking to treat GVHD, and so Dean will hopefully feel his muscles beginning to strengthen after he is completely off the prednisone.

And both of us are tired. This is a long and unrelenting process.

Dean’s doctor reminded us, at Dean’s clinic appointment yesterday, that the recovery timeline for a bone marrow transplant is roughly one year. It was both hard and helpful to hear this… a year is a long time. But what a good reminder to be patient, to settle in for the long haul, and to remember that Dean is literally only a quarter of the way along this journey.

So- I send you all love, and so many thanks.

I have heard about every benefit that has happened, and I can never express enough appreciation for the time and energy so many of you have shared.

Thank you, too, for the cards, the letters, the emails, the phone messages… all of the ways you continue to remind Dean that he is loved and loved and loved.

As always, thank you.

Love,

Megan

(feel free to forward this along…)