Austen is officially Blakely’s new bone marrow donor! 🎉 From the time our original donor had failed their clearance last week, our BMT team started preparing Austen as the new donor. Austen got everything completed and was cleared to donate within 5 days. Our BMT team was shocked how quickly they were able to get Austen’s clearance items completed. They said it has never been completed by the center that quickly before and honestly weren’t sure if they would get it completed in the time we needed. There also just happened to be a donor surgery spot available the 5th Austen could take. Though this wasn’t the original plan, we feel everything is aligning just as it should 🙏🏼 

Yesterday we had a 3 HOUR meeting solely going over the side effects and complications from the chemotherapies used in Blakely’s Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). She will be put on many medications to try to reduce these side effects and complications but they are still there. The team seems very knowledgeable and aware of everything that could go on, which despite how scary the complications are, their knowledge is comforting.

We will be admitted the 29th to start the week of chemotherapy to completely wipe out Blakely’s bone marrow to make room for Austen’s healthy cells. Austen’s bone marrow retrieval will be June 5th and Blakely will receive her life saving cells June 6th. They expect us to be in the hospital for a total of 8 weeks for transplant. She will be on very high risk protocols, she will not be able to walk the hallways and she will not be able to borrow toys from the playroom.. two of her most favorite things from the hospital.  This admission will look much different than the rest as we are expecting severe side effects and much more fatigue and pain.

As difficult as this next step may be, we are excited to be one step closer to Blakely being cancer free forever and getting her childhood back. Many people think after BMT, that’s it, we are done (I also thought this) but the road after transplant will also be extremely long; we are told she will still be very immunocompromised just as a newborn would be for about a year after transplant. But for now we are taking everything one day at a time!

We have received so much love and prayers so far, but entering into this next step we need your love, prayers, manifesting, good vibes, and support now more than ever!!

During this journey many of you have reached out asking how you could support us, and honestly we just didn’t know how to get it all coordinated. We have joined “Support Now” to better allow our community to show their support to our family in many different ways. This will also be where we will share our updates!

Thanks again for all your love and support! Let’s get ready to help Blakely kick cancer's butt!!! 👊🏼👊🏼👊🏼