"Day 19" Transitioning for Home

Things are going ok today so far. We are hopeful that trend continues. Ray's doctor told us this morning that he may possibly be released Sunday or Monday. She keeps pushing it back but that's OK cause I don't wanna take him home until he's ready! Possibly removing all these monitor & IV connections today & will begin weaning him off some of the meds too as we prepare to transition for the move home.

Last night was quite busy all throughout the night. They had bandaged Ray's hands because of all the blisters that were bursting & oozing. During the night the swelling in his hands went down enough to cause the bandages to come lose & even fall off so they had to come in & re-bandage them. Then he had some spells with severe pain just above his abdomen which they are contributing to gas maybe. That caused us to need the nurse to come in a couple of times & evaluate the situation. And then the monitor he's hooked up to had to act up a few times which required the nurse to come in & adjust it to stop the annoying beeping. Wouldn't you know too that for some reason Ray needs to get up to use the bathroom more during the night than the day! Oh & lets not forget his vitals that are taken at certain intervals, even a night. Between 3AM & 5 AM each morning they come in & draw blood so the doctor can review them when she does her rounds.

It will be nice to get home & have some undisturbed sleep.

"Day 17" Staying Positive

So they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Just snapped this of Ray . The hair is all gone now but isn't he a cutie?  He's hooked to wires on the right monitoring his heart, oxygen & breathing. On the left to an IV pole with several bags of stuff dripping into him. The hands have multiple large blisters caused from all the fluid retention & they're now erupting thus the wrapped hands.

Right now his throat sores are causing him the most pain. The wound specialist came in today to evaluate the sores & blistering on his arms & hands and tell us how we need to be treating those. She asked me if I would be willing to learn how to take care of them at home. Guess she doesn't know me very well does she? Of course I'll handle dressing them each day!

He pretty much parks himself in the recliner during the day, refusing to get back in the bed if he doesn't have to. He's not doing much walking of the halls anymore because of his wobbly legs & painful feet. They needed to up the pain meds so that makes him somewhat unstable as well. The swelling has subsided some now.
Through it all his sense of humor has remained intact. The nurses say he is a real trooper & they all just love to get assigned to him! And over the past 3 weeks we've been through lots of nurses. Even when he isn't their patient, they still make it a point to stop in & see how he's doing! What's not to love I ask you? :-)

I have hung up some of his cards around his daily progress calendar hanging in his room. He has received many more over the past couple of months. Between those & all the Facebook & email well wishes & prayers, it does make him feel loved. THANKS EVERYBODY!

Originally the doctor had thought that Ray would be able to go home today but it just wasn't meant to be. The blood counts are slowly rising so his doctor said this morning that the goal is to be able to release him from the hospital this Saturday. We hope so cause that would mean he's BETTER!  By then she expects him to have turned around & gotten much better. So we're now starting on our 4th week here & hopefully the final week.

"Day 15" - Still Battling

Gosh, we had hoped today would be oh so much better but alas it was another rough day for Ray. Not nearly as scary as a couple of days ago when we were worried about his heart, kidneys & liver but he had a very uncomfortable day today.

The horrible swelling in his hands from all the fluid retention in his body had seemed to subside some yesterday & wasn't as painful. But dang if it didn't get worse today! He is so bloated everywhere now, including his legs & stomach. The hands are really bad & causing him the most pain. Large blisters are forming & near ready to burst it seems. The doctors hesitate to give him diuretics to relieve it because of the possible damage it can cause to his kidneys. Keep in mind that the stage he's at in this transplant process puts his liver & kidneys at some risk of damage so they hesitate to compromise them any further. What to do.... what to do? 

They tell us that he needs to try hard to take in more foods high in protein to help the situation & he truly is trying but it's so hard for him to eat right now. The appetite is gone. Today he did manage to get down a protein enriched milk shake, some yogurt & cottage cheese. But not a whole lot of anything else. With so little food intake he should be losing weight big time, but instead he is gaining & that is not good.

When the doctor looked at his throat this morning, she said it still looks very raw. All those horrible sores are trying to break lose & come out which makes his mouth & esophagus very tender. We won't talk about some of the other personal issues he's having but it's not fun either.

Here's a little more information that I thought I'd share in case some reading this don't understand. As I explained to my grandson today, all the problems Ray is having right now is due to the intense chemo he had to have prior to receiving the donor's stem cells. But the chemo was necessary to kill off all of Ray's bad & good cells so that when he received the donor's cells, Ray's wouldn't recognize them as alien cells that didn't belong & try to attack them. Yes, the chemo is very hard on a person but necessary. Make sense?

On a positive note, the white blood cell count came up even more today which means his immune system is getting better! It also indicates that the donor's good stem cells are engraphting & beginning to take charge. Now for them to get busy & nip these problems in the bud!

"Day 14" Finally a Positive Turnaround!

Prayers are being answered! 
   Great news today after the stressful time we went through yesterday. Ray's blood counts are finally slowly rebounding today, including the organ numbers. His liver & kidney sonograms from yesterday came back with good results. The swelling in his hands is a little better & slightly less painful.The throat pain is a little better today & can only get better as his immune system begins to climb & start fighting off these nasty side effects!  His throat is still painful but he's bull-dogging through it! He did do a little better with eating at breakfast & lunch today.

But the BEST news is that during the night & all this morning his heart quit going into A-Fib therefore the cardiac doctor said he won't need to have the stroke prevention meds! Of course they will continue to monitor him closely in case the heart would start acting goofy again at which point they would reconsider those meds again. But the hope is that all the problems yesterday were just a temporary thing & won't happen again!!! 

Ray still hasn't shed all the extra fluid that his body is retaining but they're giving him a diuretic to help. At least he didn't gain another 12 pounds over night! But he hasn't lost any of that yet either.

Needless to say, Ray wasn't able to walk his normal two miles per day in here over the past few days but today he did manage 1/4 of a mile with the help of a walker.

Yep, yesterday was very tense & we felt real fear that Ray was beginning to have the side-effects we had prayed wouldn't happen. It sounds like whenever one's counts begin that turn around, it happens pretty quickly. Indications are that if he stays on course he may even be released from the hospital by as early as this coming Wednesday. Of course we'll still be coming back to the hospital on a daily basis for blood work, etc. for several weeks to come.

We're not out of the woods just yet but we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you everyone for the caring messages & prayers!

"Day 13" - NOT Good

To those following my Facebook posts, much of this will be a repeat but necessary because not everyone reading this is on Facebook. I am providing much more information here within this blog.

Sadly this update will not be the good news we had hoped for. In fact, many of the possible side-effects we had been warned could happen are now showing their ugly face. We had hoped Ray would escape this but apparently that isn’t in the cards.

Ray is really struggling right now but he's keeping a positive attitude. Even several of the nurses have commented on his upbeat attitude even though it's obvious that he feels horrible.  A few days ago, the mouth sores were his biggest complaint. That issue is beginning to subside somewhat but the sores reaching down his throat & esophagus is plaguing him more now. Swallowing is painful & now he’s pretty much lost his voice because of it. His voice is very raspy.

Not surprisingly his appetite continues to be non-existent. It's all I can do to get him to eat something. He will stare at his food for an hour or more & try to eat but he just can't make himself do it. I keep coaxing him but naturally he gets somewhat upset with me. I have no doubt that if the tables were turned, I’d be the same way. Ok, so I don't think a few days with little food will hurt him much, so if we can get past this part of it, hopefully he will begin to eat again.

But the above issues are proving to be minor in comparison to several other things that have developed in the last two days beginning with his body retaining fluids. In just one day he gained 12 pounds! And that’s with him not eating enough to keep a bird alive! Not good. He is swollen everywhere but his hands are the worst causing him constant pain.  Because his right arm is twice the size of his left & his left leg being more swollen than his right, they got concerned about a possible blood clot so they sent him for a sonogram yesterday. The results came back negative for a clot however the doctor in not convinced. She says it’s still possible that there is a clot there & they will watch closely because the real danger is if there is a clot & it travels to his heart or lungs.

Because of all this fluid retention they are now becoming concerned about his kidney & liver function. The blood work is showing some unwelcome results in that department as well. Today they did an ultrasound of his abdomen in an attempt to find out what’s going on there. We probably won’t get those results until tomorrow morning. We were told that there is a possibility that there could be permanent kidney & liver damage but that won’t be determined for awhile yet. They just want to make us aware of the possibility. This really wasn’t news to us because we had read about these possibilities prior to the transplant.

Yesterday Ray’s platelets were low so they gave him two units of blood. That’s pretty common & not really too worrisome. But of real concern is his heart rate which has become real whack-o. His heart is continually going into A-fib (an abnormal irregular fast beat) & they give meds to try to bring it back into rhythm. But they hesitate to do it because his blood pressure is a little low now & the meds tend to lower ones BP. The cardiac doctor told us today that he is now at a high risk for a stroke therefore they are starting him on some preventative meds to keep that from happening.

The nurses tell me that while I was gone doing laundry yesterday, he was seeing billy goats in his room. They're altering his pain meds to hopefully stop the hallucinations & confusion. He thought we had switched rooms too.  He is a fall risk so they're cautioning him to not try to get up on his own. And the poor guy is also now having problems with his feet. Nothing that we can visibly see but he says the bottom of his feet, especially the heel hurts like the devil when he puts any weight on it, making standing or walking painful for him.

Ray is hooked to tons of wires as they monitor things around the clock. The heart irregularities are constantly setting off the monitor’s alarms. Then there’s the IV pole that is hooked up to him 24/7 now too, which we must drag with us wherever he goes. Being hooked to all this sure makes taking care of bathroom issues & moving around a real challenge.  

Whew, this is some roller coaster ride!  And we thought the last two days would be the worst. Wrong! The good news is that his blood counts are just beginning to turn around & slowly head in the right direction. We fully expect that as soon as they get back to good levels, all this bad stuff  Ray’s now experiencing will cease. As I said earlier, Ray is trying his best to maintain a positive attitude. He is amazing. Even when the nurses come in & ask how he’s doing when it’s obvious that he’s not doing very well, he’ll reply “I’m good”. So far he’s not once said he regrets going through with the transplant because we knew going in that there could be some mighty rough days, weeks & months. But he didn’t like the alternative, nor did I.

Many ask me how I’m holding up through all this & I must admit that early on when contemplating & worrying about how I would deal with it all when & if the bad side-effects happened, I was truly worried I wouldn’t be able to handle it emotionally. And maybe not even physically. Yes it is very hard to watch Ray go through this & I feel so helpless. There are times I must hold back the tears I feel welling up so that he doesn’t see them & worry about me. I am proud to say that I am holding up surprisingly well. The reason being that I MUST for his sake. I have a job to do so that he can make it through this! I pretty much am taking charge trying to ensure that he does all the things that the doctors & nurses tell him to do. And with all my nervous energy, I just keep on doing whatever I can, whether it’s helping him eat, walk, get dressed, & taking care of lots of medical things that I’m learning how to do to aid the nurses. He’s more comfortable with me doing certain things for sure. Plus I figure I might as well help the nurses out when I can, especially with maintaining a clean environment in his room, etc. It breaks my heart to see his suffering but I'm going to do everything in my power to get him through this!

Tomorrow has just got to be a better day, but whatever it brings, we are ready! Bring it on cause we refuse to be defeated!!!

"Day 11" & Hanging in There!

Today has been much like yesterday as far as Ray hitting the low point in this transplant process. The fatigue & slight confusion continues. The worst problem he seems to have right now is the ongoing mucositis & we expect that to continue for at least a few more days as they gave him the last dose of anti-rejection meds today that are what's causing this condition. That pain is awlful. In fact, sadly they tell us it will probably get worse before it gets better! And because of that, they have now hooked him up to an IV that is pumping continuous pain medicine into him. Plus he has another bag hooked to it that allows him to push a button to dispense additional pain meds when it gets really bad. Not to worry tho, it only allows him so much every ten minutes so he doesn't overdose on it. If interested, you can read a little more about this mucositis 
at this link> Click here

In addition to the above issues, he has developed a fever now so they are changing some of his antibiotics around to combat that situation. That too is being administered through the IV. Couple the fever with a slightly elevated heart rate, & they are monitoring him very closely. He will be tethered to the IV pole 24/7 for at least a couple of days until they can get him more stabilized. Something tells me that we aren't gonna get a whole lot of undisturbed sleep for the next couple of nights because the monitor continually alerts us with loud beeping whenever his vitals go out of the desirable range. So far today that's happened a LOT. If he wiggles his feet as he sometimes does (kind of a nervous habit of his) it sets it off. If he grimaces in pain which he does a lot too, it cause his oxygen level to drop & sets the monitor to beeping again. Probably because he somewhat holds his breath then - a natural reflex. 

All the meds & things are causing Ray to be very unsteady on his feet now & he can't really be trusted to walk without assistance. So today the physical therapist brought him a walker & a safety belt to wear when he takes his daily walks. I think the belt is more for us to hold onto him so he don't get away from us! It's a real pain to have to drag the IV pole around with him when he walks. But worse than that is dealing with that contraption when he has to use the bathroom or take his daily shower! But it is what it is & we're dealing with it. I dare not leave him alone for too long now. Yes the nurses are nearby but they can't be in the room with him every minute. And of course he's more comfortable with me when it comes to the bathroom chores.

Today he did finally get "The Haircut". His hair was falling out in groves so they buzz him short to help the transition. After his buzz they brought him two lovely knitted hats that he can wear to keep his head warm, knitted by volunteers. I'm sure you'll see photos of those eventually! While the lovely lady was buzzing his hair, he was enjoying watching another Reds baseball game. We're so happy that they have free wireless internet here & he can watch on his laptop, while I play on my laptop updating this blog among other things.I will need to make a trip back to our place tomorrow to do a little laundry for a couple of hours but the nurses assure me that they'll keep a close watch on him while I'm gone. 

By the way, it didn't take the staff here long to get Ray's number. His mood has remained very good despite what he's going through. Everyone jokes with him. And one nurse jokingly threatened him because he led her to believe he couldn't walk AFTER she had made him get up for her. I finally laid the law down to him & made him agree to never mislead these wonderful nurses again, cause otherwise they'll never know when to believe him or not. So now the back & forth teasing is very light hearted & fun!
 

Getting his transition Buzz

Watching Reds at same time. (Notice the IV pole)

Taking his daily walk (therapist pulling IV pole along for him)

Struggling Thru 'Day 10'

Some of the things that we were told might happen but we hoped wouldn't are now beginning. But having said that, we are handling it & we keep telling each other that this too shall pass!

I don't think Ray will be taking his walks today because he is much too weak this morning. He can barely keep his eyes open & some confusion seems to be setting in. It's all I can do to get him to eat a few bites but I continue to encourage him & he truly does try. He pretty much needs assistance with everything (bathing, dressing, etc.) But at least he isn't just lying in bed. He got dressed & is resting in his recliner while an IV is pumping fluids into him. 

Yesterday we noticed that he is beginning to lose his hair, as expected. Today they will be giving him "The Haircut" so that his pillow isn't floating in hair that he might inadvertently breath in. Right now probably the worst for him is the mucositis (mouth sores which reach down into the esophagus too). We are told they will probably get worse yet before they get better but they are doing everything they can to lessen that discomfort. 

We expect any day now that the 'engraphtment' will begin. This is when the donated cells start to grow and make new blood cells. This link can explain some of the process better than I can: Click here to read/understand more about Engraphtment

Ray is being a trooper! We may have to get through a few more really tough days & nights before things get better as is usually the case. I'll remain here with him 24/7 though & keep him motivated as best I can. And don't worry about me, I'm handling it ok - really I am. It helps to know that there are so many knowledgeable nurses around all the time should anything happen.

Ray's Attitude

Coaster Ride Downhill

Today's update for those that don't see my Facebook posts; 

Ray's struggling just a little more today as his blood counts drop more and his rash & mouth irritation kicks up a couple of notches. It makes eating & swallowing very painful. He'll probably be drinking lots of smoothies for awhile. We are hoping the pain meds help. And because his platelet counts dropped he is getting platelets today. They tell us that THIS coming week will be the hardest for him. :-( So this roller coaster is on the downhill ride but we're not worried cause we know it will head back uphill again if we just hold on!

 

One Full Week After Transplant

Our past two weeks spent here at the hospital have not been nearly as bad as I had imagined they might be. It's certainly not been a picnic but so far Ray is progressing along without any serious issues. There haven't been any signs that his body is rejecting the donors stem cells.  Having said that however, he is beginning to experience side effects from the intense chemo he received, as well as the additional anti-rejection meds & powerful antibiotics they've been giving him as a preventative measure. Among the side-effects Ray is now dealing with they include:

• Rashes that now cover his arms & seem to be spreading. So far those aren't itching yet but they're beginning to be uncomfortable for him. (Treating it with cortisone creams)
• Very flushed skin (looks sunburned)
• Bloating stomach & cramps that comes & goes
• Mouth sores that are beginning to become more bothersome
• Sore throat just starting
• Loss of appetite (the bloating & cramps don't help the matter)
• Developed an intestinal infection
• Fatigue that fluctuates in intensity 
• Occasional headaches
• Trouble sleeping without the aid of a sleeping pill

These side effects are very common & for the most part expected by the staff. As soon as they begin to appear the doctors immediately take measures to ease the symptoms while the conditions run their course. Yes, Ray is having all the above side effects but it's not as bad as it sounds right now. He is not in any unbearable pain or discomfort. We see & hear others in this unit that are going through transplants too that are having some real distressing problems. It makes us realize how lucky Ray is that he's doing as well as he is.

Unfortunately the intestinal infection Ray developed can be contagious & therefore extra precautions are now in place. Any staff entering Ray's room must now don a protective gown & gloves. An isolation sign has been placed on his door. The strange thing to me though is that they still allow him to take his walks out in the hall. They stress that he continue this walking regiment but now require him to put on a hospital gown over his clothing when he does. He is still walking two miles a day. 

Depending on when you speak to Ray, sometimes he feels pretty good & sounds pretty chipper. But then there are other times when you might catch him during a down phase & then he may sound very weak. It seems he's up & down. Unfortunately they tell us that he will probably feel worse & begin to lose his appetite even more than he already has before he begins feeling better again.

Yesterday my friend & backup caregiver for Ray (Donna Holbrock) and I attended the "Caregiver Class" to get educated on the various things we need to know in preparation for when Ray is released from the hospital. There are so many precautions we must take for Ray's safety & well being for the next couple of months. Mostly keeping things as germ free as possible. I'm so thankful to have Donna as my backup if ever I should get sick myself & need to remove myself from Ray's presence until I get well. Donna is a friend & neighbor in the park where we reside here in Florida. And she actually has been volunteering two days a week at the hospital here for quite some time so she is familiar with what we are facing.

But as I said earlier, things aren't nearly as bad as I thought they might be. Praying it stays that way! The hospital room is very nice & spacious. The staff goes out of their way to make us both comfortable. And believe it or not, I'm actually getting some relaxation in! Yes, I attend to whatever Ray needs help with to make it easier on him but I'm also getting LOTS of time to read the novels I brought with me & of course spend time staying in touch with folks via my laptop. AND I don't have to shop for groceries, cook or clean! Delicious meals are delivered to us & the room is cleaned & sanitized daily. We both are always being offered food & drink.

So things aren't so bad. In fact one day while Ray was having a fairly good day, I was able to slip home to do some laundry & I took a little "Me" time & went for a nice swim in the pool before returning to the hospital. Only downside to that was that I missed the prime rib they served Ray for lunch that he couldn't eat because of his lack of appetite! Had I been here I certainly would have eaten it! I'm praying Ray's side effects don't get much worse but if they do, we'll handle it!

3 Days & Counting

Thought it time to provide another status update with how Ray is progressing since his bone marrow/stem cell transplant four days ago.  I post frequently on my Facebook wall but since there are many following this blog that don’t do Facebook, some of this will be duplicate information that I’ve already posted on Facebook.

As you know, Ray's transplant was this past Saturday. He now is considered to have a new birthday beginning with the day of his transplant which is considered Day 0 - The first 100 days are the 1st milestones we must conquer. They tell us that usually if they can successfully make it to that point, his life should begin to turn around & return to a more normal lifestyle (like being able to eat out & be around more people, etc.) Of course it probably won’t ever entirely be as it was & we’ll develop a ‘new normal’ lifestyle. Interestingly he will actually have to be re-vaccinated all over again just like a new baby. So today he is now 3 days old!

Starting a new week & all is well with us. Ray feels 'relatively' good considering all he's going through right now. I'm totally ok as well & handling things on my end with no problem. I'm now spending EVERY night with him in the hospital & will remain by his side to help with whatever. There are some side effects that have begun to show their ugly face but all in all, Ray is doing really good. His appetite is very poor now so he’s beginning to drop a few pounds. The chemo often causes mouth & esophagus sores that we were hoping he would avoid but that too is starting to appear. Of course tiredness is constant now but he’s still walking two miles a day. Sleep at night seems to elude him a lot but we’re working on finding just the right sleeping aid to help him with that.

Yes there are issues but it's all expected & we're dealing with it. His white blood cell count is now steadily dropping & will until it bottoms out. It usually takes a couple of weeks before the new donor cells really kick in & start him on the upward recovery train. In the meantime we must deal with a few unpleasant side effects of the various drugs. Then don't you know that the drugs used to combat those side effects often cause other side effects & then you deal with those! But it is what it is.

We couldn't have asked for a better place if one has to be in the hospital! Ray had a wonderful visit by a harpist today who delighted us both with some beautiful soothing music, compliments of the Moffitt Hospital here. And if he'd like a massage, they offer that too. All he has to do is ask!  They are always offering goodies to encourage Ray to eat & today they brought him a strawberry milk shake that he said was yummy. They offered me one too! I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with the food here. The variety is good. They all go out of their way to make this experience as pleasant as possible by catering to our every need. And right now he's stretched out in the recliner listening to him some Merle Haggard. (I brought in my boom box & CD's)

Ray listening to harpist on the right at foot of his bed.

So things are progressing as expected & Ray really is doing exceptionally well despite the various things he’s dealing with. We’re riding this train to wherever it takes us. Thank you all for the wonderful caring messages. We read them all on our Facebook walls & the various emails.

Transplant Accomplished!

It is done. But it certainly was a very long night for us. Apparently the donor must have decided to have the stem cells harvested from his bone marrow instead of from his peripheral blood. At least that’s what we are guessing was the reason. Originally we were told that he would be receiving the five days of injections to stimulate his stem cells before they were harvested but it turns out that they took the cells from his bone marrow instead, thus he did not have to go through the days of injections. Although extracting the cells via the bone marrow route is more invasive, it is much quicker & requires an hour or so outpatient appointment to accomplish it so I can see why one would choose that route. 

When we questioned what the difference between a “Bone Marrow” vs “Stem Cell” transplant was, we received this explanation; As it turns out, the only real distinction is in the method of collecting the stem cells. When stem cells are collected from bone marrow and transplanted into a patient, the procedure is known as a Bone Marrow transplant. If the transplanted stem cells came from the bloodstream, the procedure is called a peripheral blood Stem Cell transplant—sometimes shortened to “stem cell transplant.” So whether you hear someone talking about a “stem cell transplant” or a “bone marrow transplant,” they are still referring to stem cell transplantation. The only difference is where in the body the transplanted stem cells came from. The transplants themselves are the same.

So to get on with how the actual transplant went last night. The donors stem cells did not arrive until evening & then they had to prepare them for transfusion into Ray’s blood stream. At 10 PM they hooked him up & began the transfusion. It was a very large bag of blood/cells & we were told that because it came from the donor’s marrow, it tends to be thicker & must be set at a slower drip. The nurses were in continuously throughout the night monitoring Ray’s vitals. At first every 15 minutes & then once an hour. Ray thought he needed a sleeping pill so that he could sleep, but personally I think he would have dosed without one because he was already so tired. But nevertheless, they gave him a sleeping pill.

There really was no sleep to be had for either of us during this time. Ray had to continually use the bathroom which was somewhat of a challenge because he was tethered so closely to the IV pole & couple that with being so groggy (remember he took that sleeping pill), it kept me on my toes assisting him so there were no mishaps. I would lay down but could never really sleep because I needed to stay alert to any needs & assistance he needed.

After six long hours, the transfusion finally completed around 4 AM. Ray did great! No problems at all. His vitals remained good all night. He became a little flushed & still is more so than usual. But really, for the past month we have noticed his face always seemed to be really flushed, as if he had sunburn. This morning his stomach is grumbling a little & he has a slight headache. They can give him some meds to hopefully combat those issues. His appetite has gone south too but he did eat a small breakfast. The doctor commented this morning on his gaining 8 lbs since checking in 7 days ago because usually folks lose weight. But while he was feeling okay these past few days, he ate really well. I can see that turning around now though so I suspect the gained weight will be shed soon.

The doctor also encouraged Ray to continue his daily walking as much as he can tolerate so after he got his morning shower we walked the halls for awhile. Granted it was a much slower pace than before, but he did well. I imagine that the remainder of today & tonight will be spent trying to catch up on some much needed sleep. He is totally exhausted right now & beginning to feel really puny. However, his feeling ill was totally expected & unfortunately par for the course.

Now is when the critical time-frame begins as we watch how his body reacts to the donors stem cells. He is on anti-rejection drugs to help prevent his body from rejecting the new cells. Unfortunately some of the meds they must give Ray often cause some unpleasant side effects like mouth sores, rashes, etc. but they will deal with those issues if they happen. The good news is that the 18 year old male donor was a 10 for 10 match to Ray AND they have the same blood type which also lessens some negative outcomes.  We know that it’s vital that Ray not be exposed to any germs now because he it totally unable to fight them off. We know that he will become increasingly more tired for awhile. At least until the stem cells start doing their job. In approximately 2 to 3 weeks, if all goes well, he should feel a turnaround & began feeling better.  We’re praying for that day…