Letter from Dad...10/15/09

Dear Colleen,
Lana had her bone marrow transplant on Friday at 6:16pm. Fifteen hours later she had a very difficult time breathing. Her respiration rate was between 30 and 40 and her pulse 95 to 130 per minute. They did blood cultures several days ago and today they said she has pneumonia. She still needs platelets and blood, they gave her platelets today. She also has blood in her urine and both eyes look like she has been battered. I was with her today and spoke with the infectious disease doctor. I stayed with her for three hours today but she told me to go home all she wanted to do is sleep. I really don't know what to make of it. She didn't have a temperature. I looked at her blood report from this morning her hemoglobin was 9.5 but she had zero white blood cells and no way for her body to fight any infection. She had several IVs including an antibacterial, anti-fungal and an antiviral. The nurses check her constantly day and night. She tries to talk but it is very hard for me to understand what she is saying. It would not be possible for her to answer the phone at this time. She cannot have any type of flowers, fresh or artificial as she is in isolation. It is very depressing to see her in such an awful condition. They did say the transplant otherwise seems OK. She was in intensive care from Saturday to Tuesday but now she is in a normal room.
Joe

Letter from Dad...10/11/09

Dear Colleen,
There were complications and I had to rush to Houston Saturday morning. Lana could not get her breath so they sent her to the intensive care unit where they could better monitor her and give her oxygen. They have a doctor at M.D. Anderson who specializes just in administrating oxygen and he answered her phone when I called Saturday morning. He suggested that I come right away. I was with her again today and will be with her again tomorrow when they expect to move her back to a normal room. She appears to be out of danger and the transplant seems to be OK so far. She has an incredible will to live. In the latest blog you said the transplant was Thursday actually it was Friday at 6:16pm. Also the Lloyd Doggett letter prints in miniature on my screen and isn't readable (Dad/All, click it to enlarge). But I have to congratulate you on your ability to remember all of the details of the blog you wrote from our phone conversation the time before. I don't know what I would do without you. You are one great kid!!
Dad

T-Day!!!

Thursday evening Lana finally received the bone marrow that will save her life!!!

All went well enough. They have moved her from her room to the ICU to monitor her breathing and pulse (which is a little fast). Her blood pressure is good though, and Joe reports that she is feeling much better today, Saturday, then yesterday. They expect her to be back in own room tomorrow.

We will keep everyone posted of any updates.

Also, Joe received this letter last week from Congressman Lloyd Doggett who recently made his annual visit to La Grange during the Labor Day Parade. Lloyd and the parade always start at Lana and Joe's house so they took the opportunity to share Lana's story and one of Joe's books with Lloyd on the way by (all nicely wrapped in one package). Below is Lloyd's very kind response...

High Spirits / Schedule Change

Just got word this morning from Joe that the Bone Marrow Transfusion has now been moved to October 8th. No reason was given for the schedule change. "Perhaps something to do with the donor" Joe guesses.

Lana is already checked in at MD Anderson and has begun another round of chemotherapy. The chemo is already taxing her system and causing vomiting so they'll add an anti-nausea to her IV this morning which should help. Otherwise she is in good spirits. In fact, while checking in one of the nurses commented to Lana "you don't even look sick".

Those good spirits and positive attitude may be the very thing to save Lana's life. Both the head nurse and doctor performing the transplant have eluded to the fact that the hospital just can't help everyone. Joe guesses from their comments that perhaps only 25-50% of patients who apply for the financial help receive it. The doctor has also said he has been writing a case study on Lana which will then be published in medical journals on the subject. Joe feels it was Lana's survivor spirit that lead to his decision to focus on her case. As Lana says "death will just have to sneak up and catch me."

After Joe's visit with Lana tomorrow he will then drive 19 miles to meet the daughter of a friend who lives in Houston. She has kindly offered to let Lana and Joe stay with her during the 100 days after Lana's release when she has to go to MD Anderson for daily testing. This will be a lifesaver for them as it would be impossible to commute the 90 miles each way from their home in La Grange. Joe will offer to pay her some rent which he hopes will be covered by the kind donations they have received to her medical fund.

They could always use more help to cover expenses like gas and food during this time. If you can help, please enclose a note saying "Please deposit the the Lana Thompson Medical Fund" and mail checks to:

National Bank & Trust

P. O. Box 310

La Grange, TX 78945

Pre-Transplant Schedule

Just got this schedule from Lana and Joe for the pre-transplant testing.

It is going to be grueling to be sure....(please remember Lana & Joe live 90 miles away from the hospital itself so their days begin around 4 am). Also, many of these appointments take place in different buildings, sometimes on opposite sides of the MD Anderson campus. There are "shuttles" available in some sections but others Joe is literally pushing Lana in a wheelchair for a good mile to get from place to place. Quite a workout.

9/18/09 -
9am........Fast Track Lab Collection
11am.......Dr. "C" appointment

9/23/09 -
8am........Dental appointment
9am........ITT Pre-Procedure Assessment
9:45am...Blood/Speciment Collection
11am.......Echocardiogram
1pm.........Bone Marrow ASP/BX W/PreMed

9/24/09 -
7:10am.....Check In/Prep for CT Exam
7:40am....CT Scan, Head/Neck Area
9:15am.....Chest, PA & LAT
10am........Recipt HT/WT Storage Consent
10:30am...Dr. "C" appointment
11:30am...Business Center Follow-Up (the money people)
12:30pm...EKG - Resting
1:00pm.....Complete Pulmonary Function
2:00pm....Dr. "Co" appointment

9/25/09 -
8am..........Transplant Coordinator Visit
10am........Social Work Visit
2:15pm.....Stem Cell Pre-Admission Class

9/29/09 -
10:30am...Blood/Specimen Collection
11am.........Recipt HT/WT Storage Consent
11:30am...Dr. "C" appointment

9/30/09 -
8:30am....Subclavian Catheter Insertion (ouchie)

10/1/09 -
Scheduled Admission (more details to come)

10/7/09 -
Transplant

The Transplant

This morning at about 10:00 M. D. Anderson called Lana and told her that her bone marrow transplant has been scheduled. The donor is to donate the bone marrow on October 6th and it will be transplanted into Lana on the 7th. One day next week she will be admitted for preliminary testing and begin the process necessary for the transplant, chemotherapy etc. At last the waiting and uncertainty is finally over. Tomorrow she will need platelets again but we will go to Seton Medical Center in Austin for that. This week she has felt quite energetic for a change. She even walked into St. Marks here in La Grange Monday morning for her blood test instead of using a wheelchair.

Joe Mole

The Financial Assistance Process

July 16, 2009: The five page financial assistance package arrived from Tonya, of the Bone Marrow Transplant Finance Office. I filled it out and found all of the supporting documents that day and the next day.

July 30, 2009: Tonya called to say that it was incomplete. All of the income sources had to be verified as well as a copy of my birth certificate and Texas drivers license. This required calls to Social Security and my Union pension plan. The shock of hearing that our application had been rejected nearly gave me a heart attack.

August 8, 2009: The requested information arrived in the mail and I photocopied them. At this time I redid page one and three of the application.

August 11, 2009: Lana and I saw Tonya at M. D. Anderson and presented the additional information. At this time as we were talking about the application and the income sources and I mentioned where the "other" income came from. I was immediately told that the income donor had to sign a notarized statement saying they were the giver.

August 12, 2009: the donor faxed the required statement to Tonya.

Unknown Date, but between the 12th and the 18th: Someone called my bank and asked for my balance. Mind you I had to sent them four months of bank statements. They were given my balance as of that minute.

August 18, 2009: the "Denied" letter was typed but not mailed.

August 25, 2009: Lana and I saw Tonya again and in a very low, soft voice she read a short blurb at the bottom of the application:

"Your application has been approved for $500,000 for a transplant. You will be required to pay $11,600.00 in cash." Neither Lana or I remembered the amount correctly, but we did say that we would be back in Houston in one week. ( In fairness to Tonya, I admit that I am hard-of-hearing.) But we were not in a position to pay that amount on the spot. Money market stocks had to be cashed in.

August 26, 2009: I went to my stock broker and signed the necessary forms.

August 27, 2009: The Denial letter was mailed by Elvira at MD Anderson.

August 28, 2009: The money market check arrived in the mail from Edward Jones.

August 29, 2009: Lana and I received the Denial letter. Just a short while after receiving the letter I called my daughter, Colleen.

She immediately fired off emails to: The American Cancer Society, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Congressman Lloyd Doggett. Colleen was aware that the Senator and Congressman were acquainted with me, and she felt they could be of some help. They both had copies of my book "The Saga of Old La Grange".

September 1, 2009: Lana had an appointment with her transplant surgeon. I had forgotten to take my checkbook with me. We also did not know the status of our financial assistance application other than it was denied. We again saw Tonya. Both the surgeon and Tonya said that the money needed to be paid before the application would be approved. We only had an approximate idea of the amount. I asked for the exact amount. She made a phone call and said the amount was: $11,619.05. I asked her to please write it down for me. She did. Lana, Tonya and I went to the finance office together and I presented my debit card. "Sorry we cannot take an debit card," was the answer. "That's all right" I replied, "I will return tomorrow with a check."

September 2, 2009: At three in the morning I had the thought that I should not write a personal check but rather get a certified check at the bank. Lana was adamantly opposed to my getting a certified check, saying that she did not have time to waste. I did not listen but rather left twenty minutes early to go to the bank which opened at 9:00am. It only took five minutes for them to make out the check and three more minutes for me to photocopy it when I got home.

We arrived at M. D. Anderson at 10:50am, parked the car, put Lana in a wheelchair and took the sky bridge to the Main Building. Who should be standing just inside the door of this mammoth facility but Lana's surgeon. She immediately took the certified check out of the envelope and waived it for him to see. He was talking on the phone but smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. Now we knew everything would be OK.

Lana and I went alone to the finance office and gave them the check. The teller did not know what to do with it since we had a zero balance. I explained that it was front money for a transplant. She made a phone call, seemed satisfied and processed our check. She was pleased that it was a certified check. There would be no waiting until it cleared our bank. She gave ma a receipt and I asked for two additional copies, one for Tonya and one for the transplant coordinator. We went to the 8th floor, transplant department and asked them to call Tonya and the transplant coordinator, that we would meet them in the waiting room. Five minutes later Tonya arrived, this time she was all smiles. That too was reassuring. I gave her a copy of the receipt and she said she would give the other woman hers as well. Finally we were officially approved. They mentioned that the donor would be called immediately.