Monday, Oct. 17, 2011 – “That piece of paper doesn’t mean anything.” With those words, the oncology nurse dashed our expectations of what we thought the schedule for my stem cell transplant was going to be. Now, she didn’t change things too much, but it reminded us that it is important to expect that things will change without warning.
We thought that we would go to Vanderbilt for a few days this week to get the Hickman Catheter placed, then spend a week at home doing daily Neupogen shots to increase stem cell production, and then start the stem cell harvesting at the beginning of November. That’s what the piece of paper had said.
It turns out that I will still get the Hickman catheter on Thursday, and then will go to the hospital Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday to get Neupogen shots every day in the morning, which may be supplemented with Mozobil in the evening, and a week from today they will start harvesting my stem cells and continue harvesting them through most of next week. Next weekend (Oct 28-30), I get a few days off. And then on Oct 31 we start the high dose chemo process which lasts five days, and will kill my cancer, along with the rest of my immune system. I get a break on the sixth day, and then on the seventh day is my transplant. They will put my stem cells back in me to regrow my immune system, and it will be my new birthday!
After the transplant, we will have a very hard 30 days with daily hospital visits to check my immune system. When they put my stem cells back in me at transplant, they will be floating around in my bloodstream, and all we can do is wait while they find their way into my bone marrow and engraft, at which time they can start regrowing my immune system. It’s going to be really tough, and we’re going to need lots of support. Jacqui is going to need lots of support. Supposedly I will sleep through most of the hard times and not remember any of it. Love, letters, phone calls, emails, and video chat (Skype, etc.) would be great ways to let us know how much you care. Mail sent to our Knoxville address should automatically come to us in Nashville.
Jacqui and I have two days to get ready for Nashville, and then it’s time to move the cancer ass kicking machine into high gear!
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