Tuscon

Tatiana has 3 cord blood donors and 2 of them are a perfect match 6/6 and one is a 5/6 match. They are still doing more extensive HLA typing on one of them, to see which one is best for her. Brant and I have had our HLA typing, but we are only a 50% match. (HLA is a pair of antigens on the white blood cells. they are inherited from both parents during conception. There are antigens at three sites: HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-DR; that match those of the person needing the bone marrow). Tatiana is going to have an Allogeneic transplant, where the stem cells are collected from a donor/cord blood. Monday, August 29, Tati is going to have surgery in Tuscon, where another catheter line will be placed in a large vein into her heart. She already has a small broviac, but they will need a larger line, with a double lumin (she has a single lumin). She is then going to have an apheresis, where they will seperate her stem cells from her blood, then pump the stem cells into a bag, and return her blood to her. She will be taking nupigin, to help her body create a lot of good cells. She will also get an anticoagulant to keep her blood from clotting. They are doing this procedure just in case her body rejects the donor stem cells she will be getting, then they will have a back up of her own cells to give to her, to help her recover. They will be doing this procedure Friday, Sept. 2, in Tuscon.