LUKE BOECHLER UPDATE

Brian Boechler, Luke Boecher's dad, provided an update (through email) today on the status of the Terrier goalie, who is slated for a blood stem cell transplant on Friday....please read:

Hi,
Thought it would be a good time to provide you with an update on Luke's health situation.  After numerous delays Lukes blood stem cell transplant is confirmed for Friday, September 17, 2010.  While frustrating at the time, the delays may well be a blessing in disguise - Luke is now the healthiest he has been since first getting sick at the end of January 2010.  The Leukemia has remained in remission, he is eating well and has gained back some of the weight he lost during the first four rounds of chemo.  He has been walking about 6 KM a day and the liver damage incurred from the last round of chemo (which was the cause of one of the delays) has healed and everything appears to be back to normal.  So all in all, he is going into the transplant as healthy as he could be - which would not have been the case at any time previous.  The stem cells are here in Calgary now after being collected from the donor and cryogenically frozen in Germany last week.  The conditioning chemo he is receiving will destroy his existing bone marrow which is producing the Leukemic blast cells and will prepare his body to accept the new "graft" stem cells from the donor.  Today (Wednesday) is the first day he will have to remain in hospital overnight as he will receive a new form of chemo which will help minimize any long term negative effects of the transplant.  Luke will be the first patient in Calgary (and Canada) to undergo an entirely new technique for total body radiation (which will destroy any remaining fast growing cancer cells not destroyed by the chemo).  On Friday, he will have the stem cells administered in two separate transfusions (same process as a blood transfusion) and may even be able to go home for a day or two.  From what we are told, the toughest time will be around day 12 to day 14 after the transplant after which his levels will begin to climb and hopefully he'll be released from hospital by day 30 at the end of October.  He will then have to remain in Calgary for about two more months for tests, monitoring, and treatment if necessary.  Hopefully, he'll be home by Christmas.

Luke would like to pass along his sincerest appreciation to everyone for their kind thoughts and prayers and support over the past seven months - everything you have done is appreciated more than you can ever know.

Thanks
-Brian ... on behalf of Luke, Jeannine, Brittany and Paul.

(Feel free to leave Get Well comments for Luke and I'll pass on the link to the Boechler family so they can see them...MIKE)

Craig Stein also has a great page for that on his blog too, so you can also, or instead of, leave remarks over there.