Nov 01

Day Minus Six

Tuesday, November 1, 2011 – Today is the first of five days of chemo. We’ve had all sorts of adventures today. I was very amused to hear the nurses say that I could only take narcotics for pain, and no over the counter medicine. I guess I can do that if they insist. 😉

These are long days of chemo. 730AM till after 4PM today through Friday. We got a bunch of cards from people in the mail over the weekend, and opened half of them today during chemo. The cards really brightened our day! We’re going to open some more of them during chemo tomorrow.

Jacqui and I made a wonderful dinner last night. We made a salad, with carrots, bell peppers, avocado, tomato, cucumber, onion, and feta cheese. We also sliced some grilled chicken to put in it. It was delicious! And if that wasn’t enough we had baked potatoes and cottage cheese to go with it. It was so good that everyone had second helpings. I hope my appetite stays strong so I can keep enjoying such wonderful food!

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Oct 26

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES!!!

It looks like the first night of Mozobil will be the last night of Mozobil! Yesterday, we did the first day of stem collection. The doctors had explained that the goal is to get 2 million stem cells over the course of 2-4 days. I am happy to report that we got 6.5 million stem cells yesterday, which means we are done with the stem cell harvesting portion of the transplant process!

No more Neupogen, no more Mozobil, and no more stem cell harvesting (which is a 4+ hour process and makes you very cold). The next step is a few days of rest (no hospital visits), which the doctors tell us are VERY IMPORTANT!

Brr!! (That blood colored bag in the top right corner is really important - it has my stem cells in it!)

Next Monday, on Halloween, we will have a check-in appointment to start the next phase of the process, High Dose Chemo. The chemo begins on Tuesday, and consists of 5 lengthy days of chemo, followed by a day of rest on Sunday (though we still have to go to the hospital). My stem cell transplant — my day ZERO — will be Monday, November 7th.

For now, the important thing is that we have harvested more than enough stem cells for transplant, and that we have several days to rest and get ready for the high dose chemo next week.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.andrewmacdonald.com/celebrate-good-times/

Oct 24

First Night of Mozobil

Monday, October 24, 2011, 8:55 PM – we got here at 8:30 for my Mozobil shot. We learned that Mozobil encourages the bone marrow to release the stem cells into the bloodstream. This differs from the Neupogen shots that merely encouraged lots of stem cell production. We got my shot around 9, and have to hang out for an hour to make sure I don’t have a reaction to the shot. Jacqui and I are both looking forward to getting home and going to sleep tonight. Sadly, we are due back at the hospital tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM for more Neupogen shots and my first day of stem cell harvest.

Below is a video I shot just before getting my shot explaining what a long and tiring day it has been!

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