Zealous -- Word for the Day -- Monday, June 16, 2008

Zealous
DEFINITION: (adjective) filled with eagerness, fervor, or passion.

That is exactly what we were at 7:00 a.m. today. We got to the stem cell collection dept and signed in. NO PAPERWORK. "Who sent you here?", they asked. "Other patients", we replied. Hey, whatever works... It got us in the door. Zealous -- We were outta there by 8:00 a.m. and told we would probably start collection tomorrow. Chemo Sabe got a call at 11:30 to report to Radiology for a port change and we did it.

When asked how he felt today, Chemo Sabe responded he felt great. When asked how his pain was, he responded he had absolutely no pain. She told us that was not good. His bones needed to be aching and painful as that was a sign his blood cells were bursting at the seams to get out of the bone marrow. So, if you remember, Billy has been in a great deal of pain. And, that is a good reason why a lot of the other patients were on pain killers. And, here we thought we were doing good. With that, Chemo Sabe told her his elbow had been bothering him. And, it really has. He has been wearing a band around it to take some pressure off for the last two weeks.

Now the kicker.... Still had to check in at Infusion for the second shot of the day. Appt. each day is 5:00, BUT, since the first shot was at 8:00 the five hour waiting time would be 1:00. So, we 'thought' we had it made. Got there at 3:00....about 1,000 (exaggeration) people in the waiting room. We left there at 5:30 p.m. Tomorrow, after the collection, he will be receiving another blood transfusion.

PRAISE!!! Taken off all meds except one to increase his blood pressure. He has always had low. We will begin another one back up (anti-viral) after the collection. Growth shots will be discontinued on Wednesday. Today his dose was increased to "make those babies". We got to stop the appetite meds, too. Those were two a day. We have been getting milk shakes every day. I really was zealous about him losing weight so I could lose a few pounds. Didn't happen.

We got back again tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. The collection will be about a two day process of four hours each day. They are hoping to collect 20 MILLION cells. No less! I didn't put in all the zeros because I knew you wouldn't believe it or think I had made a typo. After the cells are reviewed and his labs look good then he will get a "Discharge". That is their term. The 'discharge' means his collection is final. We will visit with the doctor and get a plan for our next step. He will hopefully gets two weeks off, of which is he already talking about going back to work... GR8

After the vacation, per se, he will do the chemo bag again and the process begins again and go through to the stem cell transplant. There won't be another collection.

So, there you have it. Doesn't it sound so simple?

We are (zealous) looking forward to a break. Parker is sick again and I hope his sugar isn't acting up. Maxie was due at the vet last week. Our vet called today while we were in Radiology and says I can wait a while on her, if I pick up meds for her to take monthly. Kipper is just happy to be around. Pete has calmed down tremendously since he hasn't been allowed to lie around in bed with us. Woody is chomping at the bit for affection. A lot of the new changes will still be in effect. Some things won't go back to the old ways. Woody won't be able to drink coffee with Chemo Sabe as he shaves or takes a shower. He, in fact, probably won't see the outside of the sun room again. And to top off all that, we have a mole in the front yard creating all sorts of tunnels. We have never had a mole here. So, you see, my honey-dos for Chemo Sabe are stacking up. Pay backs are hell, ain't they?

We are blessed to have you all praying for us. We are anxious to spend some quality time with you. We are zealous!!!

Love --- Pepper