LUKE BOECHLER UPDATE FROM BRIAN

Brian Boechler sent this out today:

Hi Everyone,
Sorry it has been so long since the last update, but there have been so many ups and downs over the last couple of weeks that it seems anything we tell you may not be correct the moment we hit the send button.  Overall, Luke has been doing really well - better than we could have expected.  The toughest time began last Monday (September 28 - 11 days post-transplant) and lasted about 4 days - he had severe mucositis (from chemo and radiation) in his mouth and throat (meaning that he couldn't swallow anything at all) and was in lots of discomfort.  However, during that time his levels of white cells, red cells, and even platelets and "neutrifils" (main disease fighters) began to rise - meaning the new stem cells were setting up shop and beginning to do their job of creating a new immune system for him.  Less than a week after the tough time, they released him from hospital on pass (yesterday) for the afternoon and today, doctors are thinking he can stay home overnight at the condo!  He has been walking as much as possible and the exercise certainly helps.  He has contracted the common cold virus and has a bit of a cough and once in awhile spikes a fever - there are so many things that could cause the fever that they're just trying to eliminate anything serious.  The antibiotics he's on and his developing immune system keep things manageable.  Sitting in a hospital room vs being out and about makes little difference in terms of his health, so they encourage him to take advantage of the leaves when he can.

His hair is gone again and eating is still a challenge after a week of not being able to swallow.  But both of these should come along quite quickly from this point on. The next week should bring the first signs of "graft vs host disease" GVHD - as his new immune system strengthens, it will attack his own tissues to some extent (depending on the genetic match).  Some GVHD is good because the first cells it will recognize and attack will be fast growing cancer cells (if any made it past the chemo and radiation) and hopefully eliminate any leukemia remaining.  Hopefully, the GVHD will be minimal and he will be well on the road to recovery.  I guess that will be a story for the next update.

Thank you all for the incredible support you have shown for Luke and our family.  We wish you all the best as well.
May God bless you all.
Brian, Jeannine, Brittany, Paul - and especially Luke