Our Hospital Experience

We checked in to St. Lukes for the first time on November 11, 2003.

Connie began her first chemo treatment that night. A central line was installed into an artery and Ken moved into the hospital right next to her for the duration.

Connie had two intensive rounds of chemo, lost her hair and began losing weight. She was not as sick as some people experience but, she had other problems. With three siblings, she had a 75% chance of a match for a stem cell transplant, the only known cure. One by one, her siblings were told they didn’t match. Connie was not in remission after the first two rounds of chemo. When it looked like all was lost, drastic measures were about to be taken. They were considering doing a “haplo” transplant with one of our kids as a donor. Kellie and Kris were tested. Haplo means half. Having half a match was not an optimal situation but, the doctors were running out of options. They told us to get our affairs in order and it’s time to tell the kids.

We sat on the bed and cried. We both knew.

The very same day as all hope was diminishing…we received a miracle! A DONOR that matched Connie 10 for 10. As a matter of fact, she had 3 of them. Timing was critical now and we prayed for him to be ready. He WAS! He was healthy and ready to go. It was God moving his hand for us.

Connie got to go home for Christmas that year but had to come back for the transplant. She underwent the “nuclear blast” of chemo in an attempt to get her into “remission” before the transplant. There was some question if they would have done the transplant if she was not in remission.

Another miracle, just before reentry to the hospital, we got the call…”NO LEUK CELLS” were present. We were “A Go” for the transplant. She had the stem cell transplant on 1/30/04 and her body accepted the cells. Normally, they hope for about 4-5 million cells for a typical transplant. 

Our donor had produced over 19 million cells for Connie. Everyone considered it a huge success.

We stayed 38 days in the hospital the first time trying to get her into remission. It was only 14 days the second time after transplant and we were sent home. She was “neutropenic” which meant no immune system so we had to monitor EVERYTHING! She had home infusions, daily walking regimens, strict dietary considerations and medicines of all kinds. She could have no visitors and had to stay in a sterile environment. We had daily appointments down at the clinic but, she was at least, out of the hospital.

She spent the next 6 months trying to get back to fighting weight again.

The entire story is chronicled in the PREVIOUS POSTINGS section of our website and you can read what Ken wrote each day as we journeyed. Short stories, humorous articles and heartfelt pleas for prayers.  It's all there.  You can also check the PHOTO GALLERY section to get an idea of what we went through (it's also faster! ha..).

In Feb 06' we learned our battle is not over.  Connie had to undergo Round 2 with another transplant on 5/5/06.  Again, grafting occurred and we battled.  It is now 2009 and we just found out 2/27/09 that we could be battling again.  We are blessed and grateful to have over 5 years now since the first diagnosis.  Thank You God!

One final note: TheCardells.com website has experienced over 1.5 million “hits” during the 5 month transplant ordeal (first one) and over 4000 personal emails were sent to Connie and I. Over 40,000 unique visitors logged on and nearly 300,000 pages were viewed. People are still checking on us to this day. WE THANK YOU! We tried to answer every email but if we missed you, it was not on purpose. We hope you will continue to log on and stay in touch with us.