Preparation for Stem Cell Transplant

We continue to enjoy our time at home where birds and squirrels help keep us entertained and distracted from our current housebound status. One day we had a bit more excitement when a coyote decided to chase the free range chickens next door. We tried to distract him but he was successful in capturing a chicken forhis dinner. Sorry it happened so quickly we did not get pictures but here is a picture of a coyote caught a short distance from our home. Here is a picture from our sun room showing the chickens we enjoy watching.

Recently one day started early when I woke up to go to the bathroom and got actively ill. This put nurse Nancy into action with digital thermometer. When it registered 102 we were off to the emergency room at 3:30 AM knowing it probably was our entrance ticket to a room at OHSU and it was. We were in the emergency room until afternoon when they had a room ready for me. It didn't develop into anything serious so I was out in about 3 days. In the picture to the left our house is the one on the one on the left. The open area to the left of our house is the site of the home range chickens we showed in the picture above.

We are still trying to get things completed for the transplant now scheduled for April 15th. It has been a real challenge getting dental work and many special tests, but the OHSU transplant team is fantastic at assisting us. After my release we watched a lot of March Madness basketball... Of course we are disappointed that the west coast teams of Washington and Arizona were out, but glad to hear Kentucky was in the final four. We know the Tennessee crowd supporting Kentucky were thrilled as well. We pulled for Butler but they were just outgunned in the final.

The oral surgeon removed my remaining top teeth as there was risk of infection during the transplant. Dentures will have to wait until immune system returns to near normal. We are now in preparation for my stem cell transplant on the 15th. On Sunday I will start 5 days of chemo infusions, and on the 15^th I will have Total Body Radiation and then be admitted to the hospital for the stem cell transplant (basically a blood transfusion) and overnight stay. By the way, my donor is a good match, a 43-year-old male, international. (We chuckled when the doctor told us there was a marker for possible infection by Jakob's Kreuzfeld, or Mad Cow, disease, so we figured he must be in England or Europe. We are also considered risks and cannot donate blood because we lived in Europe for longer than 6 months! We're not really worried...) We have a shopping bag of drugs and books of directions to read. Biggest worries are rejection of donor stem cells and infection since my immune system will be near zero from chemo and radiation treatments. The first 2-3 weeks are the most critical, but there will be 3 1/2 months of almost daily clinic visits and monitoring, with most likely a hospitalization or two. We won't be going far from the hospital during that time and have to be careful of germs, dust, dirt, mold and such. Also will have a low bacteria diet. We will try to keep friends and family informed by posting to our blog. We try to keep a positive attitude and just take one day at a time as we deal with the little bumps in the road of our current Leukemia adventure. This Saturday we will be in Eugene for the Memorial service for my Mom, but back to the clinic on Sunday to begin pre-transplant chemo.