November 3, 2006

Well, I’m pretty sure that I’m at my Nadir (lowest blood counts of this phase of chemo). I’ve been getting platelet transfusions every 2-3 days and red blood transfusions every 4-5 days since I left the hospital.

Hopefully transfusions will go away soon as I’ve been using injections of Neupogen and Procrit to jump start my marrow. The low counts have caused mouth sores and a real lack of energy. I’ve gone from couch potato to bed potato. Having the stem cell transplant date settled has been huge for me. I feel like I’ve gone from being on eternal hold to being able to see the end of the process. The transplant is an ominous concept but it is the best treatment short of a miracle healing by God.

The big news is that my stem cell transplant date has been firmed up. Unless something big changes the dates, I will be going into OHSU the Monday following Thanksgiving to start a regime of chemo and full body irradiation to prepare me for the transplant. My donor will be getting prepared that week also. The collection of stem cells from the donor and infusion of those cells into me will be around December 2-4. Barbara and I both are approaching this transplant completely relying on God to get us through it.

My emailing ability will be limited for the next 5 or so days. The CPU fan in the laptop failed and it is going in for repair. The laptop is my primary computer so I’ll be “off line” for a bit.

Thanks again for all of your prayers. This has been a long journey; a journey that I wouldn’t have ever chosen, but it has been rich with spiritual growth and relational benefit. I thank God for his grace and mercy. I also thank Him for all of you.