Transplant - Day 2

Last night I did not get much sleep.   Between the vitals needing to be taken, and the hanging of meds, and the occasional beeping alarm of the infusion pumps, yeah I kinda slept in 1-2 hr blocks.. Oh and the bathroom runs also.. lets not forget about the bathroom runs.. 
My mom and brother Joe stopped in today and spent the day with us.  We had a nice masked visit.. Cathy has been great.  Right by my side the whole time. I was also visited by the chaplain this afternoon.  It was nice to chat with her and she prayed for me and my family. 
Appetite is a little light but I think I'm actually eating a little too much 3 times a day...

But all and all I'm still hanging in there, strong just tired. 

Transplant.. day one..

Was admitted yesterday afternoon about 5pm.  After a short stop on the 5th floor a room opened up on the 4th floor which is one of the stem cell wards. Cathy, Jon and Annie left before I moved down to the 4th floor.  So it's like once you get into the room and the door is shut that's it.. you are isolated.  Nursing folks come in with gowns, masks and gloves. I have a small fridge in the room but apparently they frown on stocking it with Sam Adams... Gee... I wonder why ??  The room is not near a street and that has good points and bad. It's quiet.. you do not hear any traffic or sirens as we did when we stayed at the hotel.  Chemo will start today.. probably in a few hours if not sooner.  Cathy will be here this week and although the solitude is good at times.  It's good to have company. Expecting to get the Hickman covered up so I can get a shower and a better fitting pair of hospital scrubs on.  Would also like to loose the hospital gown... they are just uncomfortable.. and way too hot for me.  I do have temperature control of the room which is great because I do like a cooler room.. Hopefully a food menu will be coming in soon .. I wonder if I'll get a cup of coffee.. ???

Milestone 1 - NAILED !!!

Milestone 1:  White cell boost, Stem cell harvest..
As I mentioned yesterday I spent the whole day on the pheresis machine.  Came back to the hotel, ate dinner and by then I was pretty wiped.   About 7:15 we got a call from my stem cell nurse.  I needed 2 million cells to move forward and get admitted... I actually harvested 3.1 million.  So we were cleared to come home today which we did after a decent night's sleep and a good breakfast.  we were on the road no later than 9:30 and home just before noon.  So I'm relaxing.. NOT reading work e-mails, and watching basketball with my kids.  Saturday we will head back over to Boston for the admission and the long stretch.  I figure with an extra million stem cells that might help my recovery a little huh ??  More tomorrow after I get admitted.. and I'll even post some pics, now that I know how to..lol...

first day of the harvest..

ok so today is the first day of the stem cell harvest. my nurse draws a cbc on me and when the result come back 20 min. later.. i was a bit shocked that my white count was over 50,000.. being on chemo and getting used to wbc counts less than 5 or so i guess the neupogen works.

One year when we went to Toronto to a conference there was a speaker there named Melinda Fish. Melinda had a term coined an "accidental intercession"..
Sunday when I went in to get my shot, there were two other patients there. I really did not notice.. then on Monday the same nurse that gave me my shot told me that one of the women who was in the office on Sunday was going to Boston also. So I kinda pushed that down in my priority list because, what are the chances... really of meeting up with a fellow Albanian. ..

So we come in today to get my harvest going and our nurse asks us where we are from, of course we say Albany. Well to our surprise, the nurse says.. you know the women in around the corner is from near Albany.. so Cathy goes around the corner and introduces herself and would you believe, this was one of the girls from my Sunday office visit.. and she knows my sister in law.. so we shot a picture..
May God grant you peace and health Barbara. May the Holy Spirit comfort you and give you strength and peace. May Jesus our healing touch you with His hands of Grace.

Accidental intercessions.. you gotta love them.

Boston stem cell 3/3/13

Well after getting a late start out of Albany yesterday (3/12) and traveling yet again through the rain, dark and road spray, we arrived in Boston around 8pm.
We rose this morning to meet a 7:00am appointment with the BWH radiology department who were so kind to place my Hickman. I cannot say enough about the staff of these facilities. Everyone is just wonderful.
The Hickman went in without a hitch. I am a little sore but its like a slight muscle strain.
After that we shot over to the doctors office and I had some blood work done and a neupogen shot.
We then went for a nice walk, had lunch and relaxed for the afternoon. The nurse called and said the CD 32 level which measures the concentration of stem cells was at 5.5.. that's good.. it has to be above 5.0 to have a pheresis done.. but the nurse wants to give me a mozipil shot to bump the CD32 level even more.
So we are going over tonight at 7pm to get the shot and will be reporting at 7am for my first pheresis. The pheresis will be done through the Hickman.. so no needle sticks.. its just going to be a long boring day.

more tomorrow...

The Schedule has arrived !!

As some may know I have been getting treated for a lymphoma that was diagnosed last year.  Progress is good and my doctors have recommended that I undergo a stem cell transplant.  Much like what my brother had… for the family… who remembers the French maid party ?? boy did we zing him..  anywho.. I digress..

Cathy and I have received or plan and here are the dates..

Basically the transplant process will begin on March 10 with daily white cell booster shots to stimulate stem cell growth.

Tuesday 3/12 we head to Boston, Dana Farber where Joe was..…. Jim.. I won’t be at practice that night..

Stem cells are collected on the 14^th and 15.. and I’ll probably head home for a day or so..

3/19 I get admitted between 4-7pm..

3/20-23 high dose chemo is given to kill off the white cells..

Sunday 3/24.. a day of rest.. To my OSL family.. please keep lift me in prayer that day !!

3/25.. Stem cells are re-infused.

From here on in I get supportive care.. which may include antibiotics, blood or platelets..

week of 3/31 – still hospitalized..

week of 7/7 is scheduled as a tentative discharge week.. which will be great because I’m hoping to be home before Jon’s Birthday on the 13^th.

Once I return it’s expected that I will have limitations on exposure to crowds as my immune system recovers.  I have been working from home and my supervisor has indicated that I can continue to do that.  I have moved my “office” out of the basement upstairs to a more appropriate area for when I come home.

I’m going to be on Skype, and the blogger page is still updated.. I’m also looking at a publishing a web site to, just to keep me busy..

So that’s about it.. Lets pray this chapter of my life is finishing up and a new chapter will start with the two weddings we have this year..

Rice round 3 under my belt..

Well I have completed three rounds of the rice protocol and the biggest problem I dealt with in the hospital was the boredom.. I had my neulastin shot yesterday.. Thanks to AJ who stayed and waited for me around 4:30 ish.
I also found out this week that I have to have a tooth extracted. This tooth is referred to as #29...right side. It had a root canal done many years ago, was capped with a post. And the cap began to fall off I had a root extension done, which basically retract the gum down so more root will show and will have a better surface for the cement to adhere to.. Well over the years the crown has come out at least 3 times and it was replaced.. This last time I figure that's it.. And left it out.. Then I started treatments. Dana Farber wanted a dental exam and my dentist recommended the tooth finally be yanked as to remove a possible source of infection. So I saw the oral surgeon who worked on my first tooth implant and he said the root was actually split and that is why the posted crown kept coming out. So this is scheduled for the 12th. We are also going to insert bone graft material into the root void to assist healing, plug the hole to prevent infection, and prep the spot for a future implant.

Today I am feeling good.. A little tired but nothing I can't deal with. One thing to do today.. Going to BJs to get soda for the Super Bowl party tomorrow..