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A little background…
Jenny started feeling like something was wrong in February. Her blood numbers were down farther than the previous few months, so over the next few weeks we monitored them.
April 2026 – Jenny had a bone marrow biopsy and it confirmed MDS (high risk). This condition is more than likely caused by all of the Chemo and Radiation and Medications over the last 18 years while battling Multiple Myeloma.
May 7, 2026 – We met with Dr. Chan at Moffitt in Tampa: the plan is: Jenny will begin a Chemotherapy called Vidaza.
Each round of Vidaza is seven days of infusions which only take a few minutes and then off for 21 days.
May 13, 2026 – meeting with Doctor Baidas, in Orlando at Orlando Health
June 8, 2026 – 1st day of Chemotherapy of Vidaza, she did very well with the chemo, the biggest side effect that we agreed on was extreme fatique.
Throughout the summer, Jenny did very well on the chemo of Vidaza. Her blood numbers kept dropping throughout the three sessions of chemo so she ended up probably receiving blood transfusions and or platelets at least five times maybe six from June to August.
She would know when her numbers were low because she would be out of breath and just extremely tired. But, we always had to wait until her numbers got down below 7.1 on the hemoglobin and they really never gave us a platelet number but anytime it was lower than 15. She was probably getting platelets.
By the first week of August, we had heard that the donor had been found. Actually, they have four donors. One was a 10 out of 10 match but the one they went with was an 8 out of 8 match, a 35 year-old male.
They’re very secretive of who the donor is and where they live but as of this writing, we have been given at least the information of a 35-year-old male and probably lives in Europe. We understand we’ll be able to get more information,if the donor agrees, in one year.
So the transplant date has been scheduled for October 9th. All of the testing will start beginning now at the end of August that includes a bone marrow biopsy and cardiologist test, clearance from her dentist for infections, a pulmonary test, a CT, a PET scan.
September 1, 2026 – We learned this week that she can stop the Vidaza chemotherapy. Evidently it did what it was supposed to do and also there’s a note that the third round she only had to do five days instead of seven days, which was good. She didn’t have to do two extra days of chemotherapy, but now it’s stopped.
We also have learned that the transplant has been moved out till the second week of October, due to the donor not being able to get tested in time, so everything is on hold till October 9 is when she gets admitted.
October 4, 2026 – We continue to get ready to move to Tampa for 100 or so days, we have secured a great little condominium in Tampa Palms, about 15 minutes from Moffitt.
October 7, 2026 – We we loaded up today in the rain, and unloaded…in the rain, but we were thankful that we made it in record time and everything was smooth. 
Tomorrow, we start the day at 7:45 A.M.
October 8, 2026 – Today was the minor surgery for the port placement. From here on out, she won’t be stuck anymore drawing blood or IV’s. Everything flows through the port now. Finished around 2:00, and wolfed down Chick Fil A for a late lunch. (She couldn’t have breakfast due to surgery). Resting now and will be admitted tomorrow afternoon.
October 9, 2026 – We moved Jenny to Moffitt today and she is in Room 3711 and she is listed in the directory. Her address is:
She will be in there for the next 28-30 days. Chemo to kill the bone marrow begins tonight and continues for 4 -5 days.
October 11, 2026 – Jenny has had 2 of the beginning Chemo drugs so far, with another one tonight. She is doing well, and making time pass fast. She has a list of things that she needs to do every day, some multiple times a day. So, she focuses on that so that she will not have a rough time with the Chemo and Rejection of the Donor Cells. Here is what here room looks like:
October 12, 2026 – Last night was the 1st of 3 “big” Chemotherapies. These will completely reset her bone marrow so that she can be transplanted with the doner marrow. She is still doing very well, the Dr. said today, that she is “textbook” so far. The next dose is tonight. Pray that the only side effect will be a little fatigue.
October 14, 2026 – Last night Jenny received the last “big” Chemotherapy Drug, and still is doing great. Last night was the 1st night that she didn’t sleep as much, but she napped today and is doing well. We had Brian & Jeannie from our Life Group visit for a bit today, we enjoyed seeing them. Today there is no chemo, and her body is resting and tomorrow evening she gets the donor cells.
According to what we understand, the process will begin around 10:00 pm on the 15th, and that the closer Jenny is to meeting the 11 “compatibilities” for accepting the cells, the better. She would still get them, but they would use more drugs to make her body more compatible. So 11 is the number to pray for Jenny tomorrow.
October 15, 2026 – After a bit of nausea in the AM, Jenny slept most of the day. Well, they told her it was a “rest day”… :-). I arrived later in the day in order to have dinner with her, and wait for the transplant at 10:00 pm. We had heard earlier in the morning that the cells had made it to the plane and it was in the air. Later in the day we heard there was a slight delay, and that the plane had to land in Boston for an on board emergency. Then, when the plane made it to Tampa, still another delay due to someone fainting or something. All in all the cells made it to Moffitt about 1.5 hours late which delayed the actual transplant. So, at 11:53 pm the transplant was under way.
.
It took 30 minutes or so.
Now they watch for signs of rejection, and in 2 days they will start an immunosuppressant drug for a couple of days.
Jenny mention she had picked out a song to play while receiving the cells. Here is her song: Rise Up (Lazarus)
Not to be outdone I suggest this song also: Come Alive (Dry Bones)
Thanks everyone for praying! And thanks CHOIR, for the extra special “11” prayers.
Keep it up, its working!
October 17, 2026 – I took a day off yesterday and got a few things accomplished, while Jenny rested. Today, she wanted breakfast together, so I brought her an Egg McMuffin. Currently, we are watching the Indiana/Ohio game. I tell you all of that because she is pretty much herself. No real issues to tell you about. Tomorrow, at some point she will get another Chemo to help stop the Graph versus Host Disease and she gets it for 2 days.
Thanks for all your suggestions for the songs in response to the 2 I mentioned. They have been great suggestions!
October 19, 2026 – Yea! Finished the last real dose of Chemo a couple of hours ago, now she just has to make sure she keeps flushing her system by drinking lots of water. Tomorrow is easier medications to still combat any GVHD that might arise. Jenny is feeling this Chemo a bit more than the 1st, not bad though, just fatigue.
We had a surprise visit by our daughter Anna and daughter in law Caroline last night. They were in Tampa doing some photography and called to see if they could swing by for 20 minutes. It was great seeing them!
Jenny got a lot of mail today, thanks for all of the encouragement!
October 21, 2026 – Jenny is consistently doing well. Today she developed what some people call a rash, but it doesn’t itch. Redness over 50% of her skin. Luckily, the powder that was given to her has improved the redness, so hopefully it will go away soon.
She maintains a great attitude, and loves the Nurses and Techs that come in on an hourly basis….
We had a date night tonight. I took her Soup from Longhorn and we watched our choir practice on the TV. It was good to stay connected to home. 🙂
Our Choir at FBCO has been focused on certain requests from Jenny, the 1st one had to do with the 11 compatibilities of the donor cells. That was a success. Now Jenny is asking the Choir and who ever else can pray for this, to pray for 11 again, but this time 11/3…She wants that to be her discharge date! That would mean she has done a fantastic job recovering and can go home on +28 from transplant.
October 25, 2026 – Everything has been going along well, her doctors say she is doing fantastic. They love it when the patient does everything that they request of them to help themselves. Jenny is, being the rule follower that she is!
This morning, she developed a fever unfortunately. So the team goes into fever protocal. They are testing everything to find out where the fever is coming from. We might find out today, but more than likely it will be later, since they have to grow cultures. Pray that it is nothing to worry about, and that it is just her body reacting to everything that it has been through.
Check back soon as I will keep you updated.
The fever and blood pressure is under control, but she is very sleepy. We will wait for results to maybe find out what caused the fever…
7:00 pm. GOOD NEWS, they did find a bacteria growing in one of the ports they use for IV, and they are giving strong anti-bacteria and tylenol. Pray that was the only problem! She is already feeling better!
October 26, 2026 – I arrived around 4:30 this morning and she is doing better than yesterday. Still very sleepy, but is more alert and moving better on her own.
The team is still trying to isolate the infection, so that they can give a targeted anti-biotic. Pray that it becomes evident quickly.
October 27, 2026 – Today is +12 from the transplant and they tell me that everything concerning the transplant is on track. The only hiccup has been this fever, but today, she is more alert than even yesterday. Pray that they identify the bacteria so that they can use a more targeted antibiotic. I was able to get a full nights sleep last night and the Nurses were great!
October 28, 2026 – I came in this morning a little behind schedule due to work responsibilities and parking was a challenge. Once she saw me, she said, “where have you been??” 🙂 Yep, she is on her way back to normal. No fever for 24 hours, she is more awake and more with it. The doctors came in and were VERY encouraging. They identified the bad bacteria and have started the targeted medicine and see a huge difference in her. They are taking her to get a CAT scan right now to make sure that the bacteria stayed out of her lungs. They don’t want it causing pneumonia, so they are being preventative.
The other great news is that the transplant has started working!! She has started growing neutrophils and her white count is steadily rising!!! They will have PT come in and make sure gets walking again tomorrow. I know she will love to get up out of the bed.
October 29, 2026 – Wow, the transplant has worked as well as it possibly could it sounds like! One indicator is her Absolute Neutrophil number which needs to be over 500 before she can be discharged. Her number this morning went from 0 to 400 today! Her white count went up 6 fold also! So she is progressing really well in that area.
Thanks for praying for the transplant to go well!!
Now for the specific prayer request! The bacterial infection really did a number on her. It has been dealt with, but has made her weak and now she needs to mentally and physically deal with it. Please pray that the Physical Therapy Team can get her up and moving again. (she was walking a mile every day before Sunday). I brought her a Cracker Barrel pancake for breakfast and she ate 1/2 of it. Good start!
Thanks for the many cards that you are sending this way too! She enjoys reading them and thinkg about home! I would start using the other address for future cards from now on, as we hope to be leaving here soon!
Ron & Jenny Goins
18001 Richmond Place Drive #337 Tampa, FL 33647
And a Side Note:
While roaming Moffitt (looking for coffee) I came across this Pumpkin Decorating Contest! I have my favorite! You might need to pause on some to see the incredible detail!
October 30, 2026 – We got word today that Jenny will be able to be discharged tomorrow afternoon, Saturday. I probably won’t blog until we get back to the condo with her, but just know that your prayers are working!
November 1, 2026 – Yesterday, Jenny was discharged from the Bone Marrow Transplant floor to outpatient. That means we go to the condo and go in a minimum of 1 time per day for labs and meds when needed. Today, we have to make 2 trips due to Medicare not working the weekends to get the prescription, so, in we go to get a couple of pills 2 times a day.
I hurried home to get Jake on Friday and Saturday, he was staying at Molly’s for the last couple of weeks, got back in time to be schooled on the page after page of Meds. ha
Below are a couple of pics of Jenny “Ringing the Bell” and coming home to Jake.
Read the Poem that they hand out at the Ringing, it truly does take enormous strength and Jenny has that! (Click the link below)
