DAILY NANCY UPDATE #55

Greetings. 

This is the fifty-fifth in a series of DAILY NANCY UPDATES I will be posting until the amazing Nancy Neufeld Callaway is in full remission and we have kicked her leukemia on its ass. 

If you'd like to be automatically notified of updates to this blog-- just enter your email address in the window on the right beneath Nancy's picture and follow the prompts!

BREAKING NEWS

Okay. Been a few days since the last post. But we had a really good excuse.

Our sweet friends Sharon and Andy rented a beach house in Malibu-- then insisted we take it for the weekend. Which, as you can imagine, was ridiculously great. Plus, Nancy's friend Shelley sent her a masseuse. Which was particularly helpful, since the Sunshiny Superwarrior Goddess has been feeling pretty punk of late.

The good news is, her blood results all look normal-- but the bad news is, all the heavy duty chemo she's been receiving is finally starting to really get to her. Lots of nausea, dizziness, headaches, and heavy fatigue. The poor girl has been feeling pretty miserable, to tell you the truth.

So yeah, a restful weekend was exactly what the doctor ordered.

HEADLINES

Meanwhile, what's next? Well, the search continues for a donor who is the perfect match for a Bone Marrow Transplant. Unfortunately, neither of her brothers were strong enough matches-- so we've had to turn to the International Bone Marrow Donor Bank-- and that process is ongoing. 

A lot of you have also very kindly asked if there's any way that you can be tested to see if you're a match. And it turns out there is... with a few important, unavoidable caveats.

1. GENDER AND BLOOD TYPE ARE NOT AN ISSUE. But like Nancy, you need to be of Eastern European Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. Genetically speaking, that gives you the best chance of being in the right ballpark as a potential donor.

2. The younger you are, the better. Apparently, as we age, just like everything else in our bodies, our cells become less and less robust. So bonus points if you're under 40. But bone marrow beggars can't be choosers-- so if you're over 40, but passed #1-- you can still donate.

3. There are two primary ways to be tested. The first is called: 

BETHEMATCH.ORG   

Here's what you need to know going in. It's free to be tested on BeTheMatch, but if you become an approved donor-- it means you're available to anyone in need of a bone marrow transplant-- not just Nancy. What's more, if you're over 44-- the test costs $100. And regardless of age, it takes about 3-4 months to get results. 

4. The second option is a private lab, where you would only be tested as a potential donor for Nancy. That one is called: 

BONEMARROWTEST.COM

Even though it's reputable, the results are much faster, and the test is focused on an exclusive match for Nancy-- what bothers both of us about the service is that it costs $195 for anyone to be tested, no matter how young or old you might be.

Still... they're the best options we can offer to anyone who thinks they might like to be tested as a potential donor. And in either case, please include Nancy's email address (neufaway@mac.com) as well as our transplant supervisor Megan Wilson (MEWilson@mednet.ucla.edu) so they'll also receive a copy of your testing results.

Of course, if for any reason you can't or don't want to be tested-- that's okay, too. But please give us a heads up if you're willing and able-- so we can alert Nancy's team of physicians.

And thanks for reading all this-- not to mention considering any of it. 

Because we know you feel the same way we do.   

WE LOVE NANCY, and... 

ALL IS WELL!