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.