Day FIVE

Don is on day five today. Just as I thought he did bottom out today. His white blood cell count was 0.0 You can't get any less than that!! Red blood cell count was 2.51 His Hemoglobin was low also so he recieved another pint of blood. He took a really good nap today, which he needed big time. And then he managed to walk some tonight. Just a few laps around the nurses stations and very slowly. His mouth is sore, so food today was soft. He loved the pudding and the hot chocolate. He might not eat much, but whatever he can get down and however much he can. We expect his count will start going up in a couple days. I pray very soon. Engraftment is between seven and ten days from recieving his stem cells. We are praying for seven of course...that would be this Thursday. Right now...he says he just wants to start feeling better, he is kinda puney.
Good news about his Mom, we heard she was moved to rehab today. She required a second back surgery, but is feeling much better now and getting around slowly. We have been keeping in touch as much as possible via phone. It is hard not being there for her.
Thanks for all your e cards, phone calls, and most of all prayers. We can't seem to thank you all enough.
Mucho Blessings from us both.
Don and Kathi

Blood Counts are down!!

Just as we were warned Don's blood counts dropped today. His white blood cell count is 1.5. He should bottom out completely by tomorrow. I know that sounds really bad, and it is dangerous of course....but this is part of the process. It is the part I have been afraid of. He will be sick for about five days now they tell me. Like he has the flu. But since he has zero immune system during this phase, we must be very very careful. He is in isolation now. He is still in his same room, but no visitors at this time. They still let me in, they havent kicked me out yet..LOL. And they better not try either!!!!!! He has developed mouth sores. He hates those. You can't hardly eat anything. And he is very weak. Now is when we experiment with what he can eat. Nothing sounds good to him. Ice cream maybe, he loves ice cream. He will be sleeping more now. Rest is what he needs. A nurse today told me about Aug. 5th he should be feeling better. You all pray he has NO complications or problems now. And soon his counts will be coming back up. I will keep everyone posted.
Blessings,
kathi

Our Day TWO.

As I already told you all, after your stem cell day you start counting to 30. We are on our day two. I have been writing the day count on Don's dry erase board on the wall in his room. Along with picture's our grand daughters drew for him, and pictures of all our loved ones.
He is doing great. He does have spell's of nausea, but that is to be expected. They give him med's for it, and it hasnt gotten too out of control just yet. Today the nurses on our floor had a BINGO day for all the patients and caregivers. They have some kind of event every day around here. Mind you this is only on the eleventh floor that I know of, the nurses themselves got this together. They try really hard around here to help make your experience a little more pleasant. I enjoyed playing BINGO today, but Don won twice!! I didn't win once...! When I left him tonight to return to the hotel he was putting his jigsaw puzzle together he had won. It does help pass the time.
They told us today that when your blood counts start dropping, it is sometimes sudden. One day you feel pretty good, and then WAM!! So far Don's counts have not been dropping. They check them every morning. However he is starting to feel a little "yuk"!
I noticed tonight as I marked off another day on our calendar, that July is almost gone. Gosh...I feel like we missed the entire summer. School will soon be starting. But I am so glad alot of our time here has already passed. I know alot of people love Houston...but I think Don and I would rather see Tioga..LOL.
We have had alot of our friends calling us. It is wonderful to hear from you all. We feel so loved. Don says it is so humbling to know so many people are praying for him. He told me he feels unworthy. Thank you all so much.
Blessings and Love,
Don and Kathi

STEM CELL DAY!!!!!

Well...the day has come for Don to recieve his own stem cells back! DAY 0. Yesterday he had his last chemo and one he has never had before. It was a very short chemo..only 30 minutes. He had to suck on ice for two and a half hours during and after the chemo. They tell us it is the the most powerful of all chemo's he has ever had. I believe it. This morning he called me from the hospital to tell me to be prepared to stay all night. He has been sick. We knew it was coming. Thank GOD he was moved to the eleventh floor late last night, just in time for his nausea. I can now have a bed to stay with him up there...PRAISE GOD!!
Today Pastor Bart is going to call us at 8 a.m. and Pray over the Stem Cells! Our church will be praying as well. We are soooo blessed to have them all in our lives. Praise be to ALL MIGHTY GOD!!
Our thanks to all, you are wonderful,
Don and Kathi

*Edit by Brandon*
Dad getting his stem cells back!

Day Five!!

Last night Don had test to determine if he did indeed still have a blood clot and would have to have his cvc cathetur relocated. Unfortunately he did. It wasn't a pleasant experience, they did have a hard time surgically placing it. He has some pain, but they have him on pain med's. Today they will resume his chemo and I am sure he will be sore from the experience last night. He has had so many small surgeries on that area!! They tell us this should not change his schedule in any way. They are also giving him shots in his stomach with blood thinner to break up the clot.
His mother has back surgery today in Alexandria, please remember Dorothy in your prayers. Also last night our neighbors Kevin and Peggy Kessler came to our room at MDA. Kevin is having back surgery today at Texas Orthapedic here in Houston. They will be here for a week, and possible Peggy will be my roomate at the hotel. Nice to have company!!
Lots of folks need prayers. You prayer warriors keep it up. Love you and appreciate you all sooooo much!
Blessings,
Don and Kathi

We have hit a bump in the road!

Well folks,
Chemo number two went very well, still no nausea. But today they have found out he has a blood clot just above his CVC Cathetur. They could not get any blood return from the cathetur, and his left arm has swollen. Tomorrow they are going to do a test on him to determine if they need to remove his CVC and surgically replace it on the right side of his chest. He hates that. He has had it removed once already and then it was placed too close to his heart, so they had to pull it out a small amount. All this surgery on his cathetur area isn't fun, and causes some pain. It is also delaying his schedule, and we hope this doesn't mean our DAY 0 will be on Friday instead of Thursday.
Through it all he has kept such a good attitude. He has all the nurses remembering his name the way he teases them all...LOL. He will be having his chemo all through the night now, because of all the worry about his cathetur. No sleep for him!!
Please pray his test shows the blood clot is gone and his blood flow is normal, and they won't have to remove his CVC.
We talked to his brother Kim tonight, good hearing from him. Our kids and grandkids were such a joy to have here if only for one day...we love them so. They really cheered up Paw Paw and MeMe got lots of hugs. We needed that. It is kinda quiet around here now though....too quiet.
Thanks for all the prayers and S.S.class, thanks for wearing those ribbons and the special prayers during class as well.
We love all of you,
Don and Kathi

Day ONE of six Mega Chemo's

Today Don had his first day of the strong chemo drugs to kill his remaining stem cell's. He actually did very well. He did not get sick at all!! Must be all those prayers your sending up on his behalf. PLEASE...DONT STOP!! Tomorrow he will be recieving a combination of drugs. One he has had before, and one new one. I pray all days go as well as today, however we know he will start feeling very weak soon. Tonight they let him go to the "park" on the second floor. The "park" is an area of the hospital that we love the most. It is an open large area full of palm tree's and plant's. In the day time you can hear the piano player playing from an area near by. A very relaxing atmosphere. We love to just sit in the wicker chairs and have a change of scenery. He only got to sit there about an hour, and we know it will be his last day for about three weeks! I told him let's enjoy this while we can. We are trying to get a room on the 11th floor. It is the stem cell transplant floor.....but we have been admitted to the 9th floor because there was no vacancy on 11. On the 9th floor there is no room for a couch or bed for me to stay with him. Tonight thank the good Lord he is o.k. and doesn't need me to stay.
Also our daughter and grandkids are coming tonight!! HURRAY!! We can't wait to see them. Paw Paw will love having them to brighten his day tomorrow. And MeMe really needs a hug!!
We will write again soon,
Blessings,
Kathi