Will all racers please take their place at the starting line.

The big day has finally arrived.  On August 11th, we will begin phase 1 of the BMT treatment. There are 3 phases overall.

Phase 1 is the conditioning phase. This is just short of a 2 week process where Clark will be given chemotherapy to destroy his existing bone marrow. Phase 1 is tracked as a negative countdown (much like a shuttle launch), where day one of Phase 1 is identified as -9. Countdown (or count-up in this case) goes until day zero, where we enter phase 2.

Phase 2 is known as the aplastic phase. In this phase, Clark’s bone marrow has been “emptied” and is ready for the donor bone marrow. This phase lasts 2 weeks as doctors anxiously wait and watch for signs that the new marrow has taken hold, and is growing.  Day zero is effectively a “new start” for Clark’s bone marrow.  It will be like his marrow has been re-born, much like when Clark was in his 3rd trimester of birth.  Some refer to day zero as Clark’s new “birthday” because of this.

Phase 3 is known as the isolation phase. This is where we keep Clark isolated from viruses, bacteria, and fungus, as his numbers steadily climb and he recovers while his bone marrow grows. This phase can last many months and will be spent partially in the hospital (4 weeks), and partially at home (4-6 months).

Beth will join Clark for most of his time in the hospital.  She will be updating us daily on Clark’s progress from his isolation room.  If you have a positive thought for Clark, now is the time to put it out there!!