The Plan

My Mom went up and took a look at one of the transplant rooms today. With a little bit of frill and a whole lot of pink; I think we can handle it :)

Ceci vs. Decitabine round two. It's Thursday, November 12th. It's the fourth day I have had Decitabine this week, or how I like to think of it, the second to last day I'm getting Decitabine. This second course has made me very sluggish, extremely tired, and things bother me easily. It seems to be harder on me than the last course. However; I have some great news to share. I will be admitted to PCH to start the transplant December 14th or 15th, 2009. Dr. Adams is leaning towards a stem cell transplant versus bone marrow. The process only differs in the way that it is extracted from the donor. Having a stem cell transplant leaves a shorter window for infection. However; it also poses a bigger threat of graft vs hosts disease. Dr. Adams, Dr. Etzl, and all of their colleagues have weighed all of the risks and benefits. Although it is a tentative date, I am ecstatic. It seems like a long way away. Well, let's be honest, it is a long way away. But to have a date feels like such a big leap.

Here's the tentative plan. However; we have all learned they are very capable of changing them. November 23 and 24th, Ryan and I will undergo our pre transplant workups. My second 10/1o match, Allan, is ready if need be. On December 7th, another biopsy will be performed to check my blast count. On December 14th or 15th, I will be admitted to PCH. I will recieve six days of in-patient chemotherapy. They will give me 48-72 hours rest. They leave this time period open to give the chemotherapy enough time to leave my system. They don't want to put the new stem cells in to find that the chemotherapy destroyed it. Good thing they think this through. I'll get the stem cells and then proceed to wait for it to engraft. Give or take a day, I could actually get the stem cells on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. That would officially be the best Christmas present ever. Okay, back to the actual present, tomorrow is my last day of Decitabine! Although it has been nice having somewhere to go everyday; I am ready for Decitabine to end. I couldn't have said it better than Miley, "Ain't about how fast I get there, ain't about what's waiting on the other side. It's the climb.".