Today we saw the doctor at Vanderbilt, and received our marching orders for the next month. Right now, the goal is to focus on October. We’ll worry about November later.
The good news we found out today is that I may not have to do my 4th round of chemo next week, or at all. This is still pending a conversation between the Knoxville and Vanderbilt doctors, but it would be wonderful to be able to skip that chemo.
Here is the rest of the plan.
First week in October, we’ll go to Vanderbilt and have some baseline testing done. This will check my heart function, lung function, etc, so we will have a baseline to compare to during stem cell transplant.
Second week in October, Vanderbilt gets to work their magic with the insurance company, getting final approval for the transplant procedure. (I’m not even going to pre-emptively call the insurance company this time.)
Third week in October, I get all the lights, bells, and whistles attached to my body for transplant. This includes a Hickman Catheter among other things. The plan also is to get a dose of chemo, to be followed by neupogen, which bring us to the 4th week in October.
The fourth week in October, we’re going to do Neupogen shots daily to boost my stem cells in my body and bloodstream. If you don’t want me to have to go through this all alone, come visit! We’ll have plenty of alcohol for you to shoot while I stick myself. 🙂
Also, 4th week in October has Thursday, October 27th, which is a very important day. October 27th is Knoxville’s Light the Night Walk, a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I created a team for this a few weeks ago, and it looks like if all goes according to plan, I’m going to be walking with everyone that night! If you would like to walk with me, join our team by visiting the page below. Participate by walking with me during the event, or by just making a donation.
http://pages.lightthenight.org/tn/ETN11/AndrewMacDonald
I’m excited that I will be able to do this. It’s going to feel really good.
So that’s the 4th week in October.
First week in November is the ZERO day — the beginning of transplant. The doctors are going to give us this schedule later, but they were able to tell us that I may be able to come home to Knoxville at the beginning of December. This is much better than what we were thinking, which was that I would be able to come home around New Year’s. We’ll have to see which of us is right.
More news to come as we get it. The doctor’s visit today went very smoothly, and we did not seem to run into any speed bumps. No hassles, just lots of planning, and the planning seemed very easy.
We’ve got ten days to get ready for the month of October. Ten days to do EVERYTHING, and then it will be time to get ready to go back to Nashville.
Your positive energy, good vibes, thoughts, prayers, juju, candles, joy, and positivity has been amazing in getting us this far along the current path. Please don’t ever let it stop!
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