3/7/2011 The Collection process is Complete

Figured I'd better get a blog coming since Amanda already knows and I'm sure is hitting everyone she knows with texting and facebook and her blog.

We got a call this afternoon from the BMT Clinic with the good news. The Cytoxan protocol did exactly what what they wanted it to do, it crushed everything back and then with the help of the Neupogen and the other growth additives they went right to the bones, or where ever it is that stem cells hang out before becoming stem cells. They kicked them in the butt and got them working so well that today was most likely my last collection day. My body gave up 6.9 million stem cells today, that's more than the first effort combined, so now I have a combined total of 14.4 million stem cells for them to play with a get get ready to give back to me at some future date. We don't have the schedule for rest of the trip but expect to get on during the next few days.

I'm sure glad that medically the body has been responding well to all the treatment, because physically I haven't felt very well the last couple of days with nausea, bone ache and overall just kind of rotten feeling, they say a lot of this can be from the fall out from the Neupogen and other growth factors, hopefully they will start going away as I don't take the medicines anymore. I'm still wearing the mask anytime I'm in public and also washing my hands quite often as much of my immune system is gone from the Cytoxan. I've still got the majority of my hair, but it is starting to come out a little at a time, I probably need to get a new haircut that will work with the challenges.

As always, Patty has been great in taking care of me and still dealing with everything she's got going in her life, I really don't know what I would do without her.

We had some questions about donating blood in my name to help me when it is needed. We checked with the hospital and they stopped doing that program some time ago. So the only thing I can tell you is to go ahead and dontate and just think of the good you can do for what ever family gets the blood products you donate.

We have meetings tomorrow with staff from the BMT Clinic to go over the in patient protocols and procedures, we'll let you know what comes from those meetings.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers in our behalf, they are working, and so in the words of the dunkin donuts guy "I made the donuts" Now we get to see how they turn out.