Things are happening faster than we expected but that's good news in most respects. We received word today that the donor found is indeed a suitable match & they've scheduled the stem cell transplant for April 21st. Ray will complete his third round of chemo (scheduled to start next week on March 6th). He will then undergo 3 days of pre-transplant work-up March 25-26-27 that consists of ensuring Ray is in adequate physical condition to withstand the transplant. He will go through a multitude of tests checking his heart, lung & kidney functions as well as many various other scans (CT, MRI, PET, etc.)
We will also be attending formal Patient & Caregiver education classes to learn the many vital things we'll need to know on what to expect & the importance of his care. There is certainly a lot to learn & lots of precautions that must be taken. Thinking about it can become somewhat overwhelming.
We do not know who the donor is, nor where he resides. For all we know, he could be from another country. My understanding is that the donor will go through 5 days of receiving a daily injection to stimulate their stem cells. On the 5th day their blood is taken & the stem cells are extracted from that blood. The harvested stem cells are packed on ice & immediately transported to the Moffitt Cancer Center here in Tampa where Ray will receive them. Once placed in his body, those cells should travel to his bone marrow and begin to produce new healthy blood cells.
This past week was somewhat trying occasionally. Ray began having headaches that sometimes hurt quite a bit & he began feeling more tired that usual whenever he exerted himself in any way. What should have been just an hour visit at Wednesday's weekly blood draw at the hospital turned into a 6 hour wait. His white blood cell & platelet counts dropped again & because of the headaches, they decided he should have a CT done of his head to make sure nothing serious was going on. Those tests came back ok. Fortunately the headaches subsided finally. Last night he had an episode with his acid reflux acting up in the middle of the night. The worst he's ever had it & nothing seemed to relieve it. After about an hour or so of him being in a lot of distress, it finally subsided. If was so bad that if it had went on for much longer, I was ready to phone the hospital.
The doctor decided he should return 2 days later (today) for another blood draw. That visit should have only taken an hour too but it turned into a 4 hour wait! We're not sure what took them so long to get the lab results back, but when they finally received the results, it was realized that his potassium was way too high from the previous test on Wednesday, so he needed to head back to the lab for another blood draw to re-test that & of course that was more waiting. The potassium levels ended up being ok too.
Ready or not, it's happening & each day brings the reality of it all closer & closer. Dad & Randy are scheduled to return to Indiana in three weeks. We hope everyone remains in good health during that time & no unexpected train derailments. I had thought we might have a little relaxing "Us" time alone before we had to face the transplant but because it's been moved up a little, there won't be much. So we're savoring each day we have right now, knowing what we'll soon be dealing with.
Stay tuned for more updates to this blog as things develop. I hope to be able to always keep this updated for those that wonder what's happening. It' so much easier than repeating it over & over to so many, plus it ensures everyone receives accurate information first hand.
As ever, ~Pam~
No comments:
Post a Comment