Hope everyone is well. Finally we have a plan for the bone morrow transplant. I went thru a week and half of testing. I never want to go into a MRI tube ever again. Talking about claustrophobic! I never have had an issue of being in tight places, but after two hours in that thing and having my head immobilized, I can think of something better to do with my time. Essentially the result of the test are this, cancer is still in remission. Bone morrow is clean. The only issue was a lymphnode that was inflamed, does not mean its cancerous, but was just being a little weird. Because of this lymphnode the doctors want to make sure that nothing is returning. So I will be admitted to the U of M on Monday morning to start another round of chemo to clean anything out, again. I personally dont think is a cancerous lymphnode, but I think it is a good idea to make sure. Burketts is an aggressive form of cancer, so lets make sure we nip in the butt. I will go thru a chemo cycle called RICE, this is the first letter in each chemo they will use. Once I go thru these four chemos I will be sent home to recover. On day 10,11,12 I will bottom(1st day of chemo is considered day 1) out with my white blood count. At this time the doctors will give me neupegen to promote bone morrow growth, hopefully I will recover enough in day 13,14,15 that me WB stem count will be at the number the doctors want to start harvesting the stem cells. What I did not understand at first is the stem cell harvest could take a couple days, it all depends on how much I can produce for them to harvest. I thought it would be done it a day, that is not a likely senario. It will take a couple days, because my body is so compromised from the chemo. The cool thing is the machine they use to take stem cells out. It is able to take my blood, seperated it, so the red blood, plasma and WB are all in their own section of this machine, pull out the stem cells, and then put the blood back in my body with some chemical to make sure I dont clot. Its like a dialysis machine, but for stem cells. I also find it interesting that when I have to harvest I check in the morning, they check my blood, if all looks ok, I go to the Apheresis Center, they hook me up to the machine for 4 hours, once I am done they send me home. Crazy! Send me home! There are a lot of people that are way smarter then me in this world. Although, I do believe there has to be a better way to do an MRI(damn machine). Once the harvesting is done. I will meet with the doctor to get the ok to move forward. Once I get the ok, I will then check in to the hospital to do a round of chemo call BEAM. This particular round is suppose to be more difficult on my system. What I mean by that is my immune system will be wiped out. Once BEAM is complete, on day 6(again first day of chemo is day 1) I will be given the transplant. If all goes well I could be sent home on day 7. I will start neupegen right away to promote bone morrow growth. But, the next 2-3 weeks are critical. I will be very susceptible to infection of any kind. This is when I will be on lock down. This is the time that scares me. All the other stuff I know I can handle, but the idea of knowing that an apple with bacteria could put me back in the hospital, scares me. One reason it scares is I dont realize how much I take my immune system for granted. I will be more at ease once I know my White Blood Count is back up. I will be even more comfortable once I hit day 28, that is when they do a couple tests to make sure we are good to go. The thing I am looking forward to the least is feeling like crap, I am just getting strong again. Now I will be beat down again. I feel like buttercup. Build me up buttercup.. But I am looking forward to finally being at what I consider the last step. Then I lookiing forward to my 28 day check, 60 day check, 90 day, 6 month and a year(when I get my first vaccinations), then my year 2(second round of vaccinations). I have also been told no 3rd world travelling for a couple years, that sucks.. I know I have a very aggressive forms of cancer and the numbers are against me(I have beat the odds since day 1 of this ordeal), but I believe I have this beat. I believe I will be that person that will help others that are diagnosed in the future with the double hit. I will be that person who proves you can survive this deal and live a good life. Give me 1%! That is all I need. Fight Like Hell and Push Thru It when I feel like poop. I want to thank everyone for all the prayers and positive energy. I cant tell you how many times I have received an email, message or text at just the right time when I was feeling a little down or sad. In my mind these are all signs that the powers above are really watching and making sure we get thru this. Thank you again. Give me 1%, Mike
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 18:13:59 +0000
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