Evaluation

I saw Dr. Craig and Dr. Burt today. The results of my CT enterography and colonoscopy showed very active Crohn's in the colon. They both agreed that I have severe enough Crohn's, and am healthy enough otherwise, to make a good candidate for the stem cell transplant. Dr. Burt said he wanted to do an allogeneic transplant, using umbilical cord blood stem cells, rather than an autologous transplant, using my own. The benefit would be that they come from a source without immunodeficiencies, specifically involvement with Crohn's, lowering the chance of and delaying possible relapse. As of now, Dr. Burt has only used umbilical cord blood stem cells in the transplant with one Crohn's patient.

The financial team at Northwestern will draft a letter and submit my case to my insurance company to try to get the transplant approved. Dr. Burt said CareFirst has paid for transplants more often than not, but it can easily be a few months before they reach a decision. Back home to wait for now.