Calling all WBCs!

Dana here again.

I know they described all this. I know they told us what could, probably would, happen as John went through this process. But somehow as we listened, I think John and I both felt that he would be spared. Not that we thought he'd breeze through, but he had handled everything they'd thrown at him so well, so far.

I came face to face with the reality of this devastating process when I walked into John's room yesterday. He looks gawdawful and he feels worse. He has not been able to even listen to me read your blog comments yet, but I did read him a couple of emails today and will be reading him your comments a few at a time over the next few days. He slips in and out of sleep, mostly drug induced I think. He rallied a bit when young John and I came in and even cracked a couple of jokes. When I asked him if he'd missed me his eyes welled with tears so I am happy to be back and by his side, even if it is just to sit here as he sleeps.

Dr. L. came in today and said he is doing really well. He said he knows it's hard to see that but that he is very happy with how things are progressing. The nurses say he is a good patient and is doing everything he is supposed to be doing, his mouth care, his breathing exercises, etc. We are waiting for engraftment which we thought would happen in 10 to 14 days but Dr. L said today it might be more like day 20. Here is a description of engraftment from the National Marrow Donor website. They explain it better than I could.

Waiting for Engraftment: Days 0-30
After your bone marrow transplant you will have low blood counts. This means that you have fewer than normal numbers of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Over time, the donated cells you received for your transplant start to grow and make new blood cells. This is called engraftment. Engraftment is an important milestone in your transplant recovery.


Infections
Until your donated cells engraft, you will have low counts of all types of blood cells. You will have very few white blood cells to fight infections. This means you can get an infection easily and infections during this time can be serious, even life-threatening. Your transplant team will take steps to protect you from infections. You will be at risk for infection for many months, but the period before engraftment is a time of especially high risk.

For more detail and information I will refer you to the website:

http://www.marrow.org/PATIENT/Donor_Select_Tx_Process/Waiting_for_Engraftment_Days_0/index.html

So, time to let those WBCs know their vacation is over and they need to head on over, the sooner, the better! I've read in the BMT blogs of others that things start to improve and heal almost immediately once the body starts producing WBCs again.

Young John came back up with me and helped me move our stuff over to the new place. I know his dad was happy to see him. I wish Mike could visit but it is probably better not to have him see his dad this way, it would just upset him. Young John handled it well and was a good support for me. I haven't had a chance to settle in to the new place yet but it will be great to be so close to the hospital now. It is less than ten minutes away.

John's pain is managed for the most part but he is really miserable. He doesn't want guests or phone calls right now. He just wants to get through this in his own "warrior" way. He can't have flowers, he can't eat, he can't read, he can't even get up and read email, so there is very little you can do right now. He would probably appreciate a card or a picture to put up in his room but I can't think of much else. He knows you are all thinking of him and he will get through this. This part is just very hard.

The address to send mail here at the hospital is:

Stanford University Medical Center
Attention: John Fiore Unit E-1
300 Pasteur Drive
Stanford, CA 94305

(And if anyone has any pull with the Red Sox, please feel free to forward his address to them.)

Thank you all for your comments, notes, prayers, and good wishes. They help get us through.