We are starting all over again after almost 4 years since her first transplant. It hasn't been an easy four years either with frequent procedures, hospital stays and daily/weekly tower visits. She has had very little time to recover because they have been unable to stabilize her system for any length of time. THE RECAP: IN MARCH OF 2011..... She was feeling tired Saturday night at a Cub Scout outing and everyone thought that it might be a touch of the flu. She took the kids home and spent most of Sunday sleeping. On Monday, her primary care physician received results that prompted an appointment to a hematology office right around the corner. By the time we arrived, she was having difficulty walking because of fatigue. The doctor we saw was extremely nice. She came in and collected everything needed for testing. About 20 minutes later, she came back with wide eyes and immediately sent us to her other office for a bone marrow biopsy after saying that it could be leukemia. We recognized the word, but didn't really know much about it. Upon arrival, she was taken back for the procedure. Shortly after, she went ghost white and the nurse called 911. How convenient for us that Cobb Hospital was right across the street. She was whisked into the ER where they proceeded to give her blood. That was when we knew things were not well. Two days later we were admitted into the Bone Marrow Transplant unit at Northside Hospital and have been either in the "Unit" or back and forth to the "Tower" ever since. Her diagnosis: Philadelphia Chromosome-Positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL Philadelphia) that is also present in her spinal cord. God's timeline from discovery: Friday - Met with Primary Care Physician Tuesday - Met with Hematologist / Rushed to ER - Cobb Hospital Wednesday - Checked out of the ER and headed home to see the kids Thursday - Admitted to the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit - Northside Hospital Her first bone marrow transplant was in June of 2011, thanks to her older sister Jennifer who was a 10/10 match! Tiffany had been cancer free in her blood since then but her spinal fluid needed more work with five or so relapses. The best way to keep this at bay is with a procedure called a Lumbar Punture (LP). This is where they test the spinal fluid for cancer and inject chemo at the same time. This is an out patient procedure but still takes it's toll. We think she probably holds some sort of record as the number of LP's has probably already exceeded 100. Throughout 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, she has had many forms of chemotherapy treatments; through IV, pill, and spinal injection. She has never been the norm. Fastest recovery, fastest relapse, fastest recovery again, most lumbar punctures (spinal taps), lost hair, grew hair, lost hair, grew hair, lost hair, grew hair, resistant to all known market drugs, overweight, underweight, blood, platelets, body punctures, multiple central line implants, wheelchair, walker, cane, and the list goes on. Her frame of mind? Giving has always been her strong suit and she never stops helping others always putting herself last. She is sorry to be a burden, but says she will kick this cancer's butt and I believe it. - Sean FAST FORWARD TO 2014..... Well I'm not sure where to begin! The Riordan household has been unbelievably busy since the end of August. After routine checks at the end of August we found out that the cancer had returned but this time in both the blood and spinal fluid. I went in the hospital Sept 1 for the first of 2 chemo 21 day cycles. I only had to stay in for 4 days but then back and forth to the clinic. I had a couple bad weeks but we got through them. My mother In law was great to come in town and help, my Mom lives with us and is always so helpful with rides, kids, and the house. Words are hard to find when thanking my husband for being a rock and the absolute super glue holding this house together. His days have consisted of getting everyone (myself included) grumpily out of bed in the morning, packing lunches, driving kids to school, coming to Northside Hospital (NSH) to sit with me and bring me home (my Mom takes me in the morning). Then he tries to get some work done and off to pick up kids do homework, dinner and off to football, volleyball and/or tennis. 9pm dinner, bed and start again. All with a kind voice and a smile!! I am responding well again to the treatment with more to come. At this time I have exhausted any chemo pills on the market. We did a second bone marrow transplant (bmt) on December 18, 2014 and I am proud to say that my brother Branden was my donor this time!! My sister was a full match and blessed me with 3 1/2 years of health and time with my family. Doctors feel maybe her cells got a little to friendly with bad cells and stopped fighting so hard. Branden is a half match 5/10 . Doctors wanted a male and a half match because the cells will have to fight harder to take over. With this could come some complications of something called GVHD. I won't get into this unless I get it. I did not the first time but they would like to see a controlled version of GVHD because it lets them know the cells are on the attack. After transplant starts a 100 day recovery process where I need a caregiver almost always. My Mom and my Husband have been my main caregivers but they both have full time jobs that are financially suffering as they happily take care of me. The first 30 days I have to travel back and forth to the clinic daily. For those of you unfamiliar with this drive on a Sunday morning it takes 45 min, on Monday morning....could be up to 2hrs stop and go. No fun for driver or me when your tired and nauseous. I have been extremely blessed with a wonderful family, great friends and a network of praying strangers! In the beginning we really stayed to ourselves. We were learning and scared and did not know what to expect. I was not interested in updates and phone calls so my family did that. This time we would like to keep everyone involved more if your interested. We are also learning and trying to ask for help. There are so many of you that have offered to help in many ways and we are so thankful. I am always looking for rides, kid pickups, kid play dates, errands, household help, someone to just sit with me etc. We will be maintaining this site as best as we can and updating our schedule needs. If you know a way to lend a hand or have days better than others please send a message. We work on a week to week basis (sometime day to day) so you can also. Surviving financially the first time was a blessing, but starting again presents a whole new set of challenges for those that have to bear the burden of it. - Tiffany