Reinstra family receives doses of good news

Lying in a hospital bed while receiving a second round of chemotherapy hardly seems like a good fit for receiving good news.

But that was the case Monday for La Conner’s Ashlyn Reinstra, who learned then that her younger siblings, Erick and Addie, are positive matches for a pending bone marrow transplant.

Once the aggressive leukemia that sidelined Ashlyn – a former La Conner High soccer star who was playing on the Skagit Valley College women’s team when stricken last fall – is pushed into remission, she may begin the lengthy transplant process.

But, just like on the soccer pitch, Ashlyn and her family are taking things one step at a time.

“It’s really good news,” Ashlyn’s mom, Jamie Reinstra, told La Conner Weekly News by phone Monday afternoon, as she sat bedside with her daughter at the University of Washington Medical Center. “To have two family members as matches is pretty amazing.

“But,” she acknowledged, “we’re not to that place yet. This will be a fairly lengthy process. We have to get her into remission first.”

The Reinstras are grateful, meanwhile, for all the love and support received thus far from the growing legions of “Team Ashlyn.”

“We’ve been blessed by the incredible kindness of the La Conner community,” Jamie said. “We just ask that everyone continue to pray.”

That prayer chain has even stretched into Central Texas, where a number of former La Connerites now reside, many living in the small town that gave birth to Dr. Don Thomas, who pioneered bone marrow transplantation and was for many years a key figure at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and professor emeritus at the University of Washington.

Dr. Thomas was born in Mart, Texas, and as a boy tagged along with his dad – a highly regarded country doctor – on house calls in the area.

The elder Dr. Thomas was so revered that several men in Mart were given either the first or middle name Thomas.

Martites followed the son’s career as it shifted from the East Coast to Seattle and was highlighted by receipt of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Medicine and a lasting legacy that now includes 60,000 bone marrow transplants annually.

The hope – and prayer – is Ashlyn will soon join that number.

The research conducted by Dr. Thomas has allowed many thousands of leukemia patients to enjoy full, normal lives, a fact Martites, proud of their famous native son, are quick to cite.

Due in great measure to Dr. Thomas, the University of Washington became the global leader in leukemia treatment, yet another reason the Reinstras are grateful this week.

“We have the best doctor care available,” Jamie said Monday. “People travel here from all over the world.”

Ashlyn’s current round of chemo hasn’t been as difficult as the first, Jamie said. But even the rigorous first set didn’t knock her daughter down long.

Her fast recovery was such that Ashlyn was able to return home to visit family and friends for a few days before returning to her Seattle apartment.

“The staff,” Jamie said, “had never seen a patient who was that sick get better so fast.”

It’s a trend folks in La Conner – and now around the country – hope will repeat itself in the weeks and months ahead.