Yes, day -2. During his rounds today the doctor came in and said that Derrick will be getting his transplant on Wednesday instead of Thursday. That is when the donors cells will be ready and the doctor said some people need a day off in between, but Derrick is doing really well so the day off isn't necessary. His social worker also stopped in today and she apologized for not seeing us more. She said he is "boring" which suprisingly is a good thing! Having the transplant a day sooner just means that Derrick will be one more day ahead of schedule and his counts and immune sytem will bounce back sooner. The fewer days that he is neutropenic ( no immune system) the better! Like Derrick said in his post, he woke up feeling great this morning. He was awake before me and even had a big smile on his face ( definately not a bad thing to wake up to!). He was able to eat some breakfast again today, but nothing after that. As the day progressed, and he was infused with the horse serum, he started not to feel too well. He had some flu like syptoms, recurrent bouts of hiccups, and some skin rashes. All these are related to the horse. Derrick and I joked that as long as he wasn't galloping around the room and neighing we were doing alright! Although today was a tough day for Derrick, it wasn't anything that he didn't handle extremely well. The doctors said that this would be one of if not the worst days. Even though he is getting the horse serum tomorrow, his reactions shouldn't be as bad, because his body is used to it. He spent most of the day napping, but he was able to ride his stationary bike for a little. We also watched a movie in the late morning called Funny Games. Just a warning don't rent it. Derrick and I agreed it was probably the worst ever! Derrick also received some cards in the mail today here at Sloan, and he really liked that! It's hard to beleive that after this seemingly never ending road of treatment that Derrick's last dose of chemo is tomorrow and then his transplant! Some days we felt we'd never get here. I am reading a book that Marcy let me borrow called 90 minutes in Heaven. It is a story about a Baptist preacher who was in a car accident and was pronounced dead for 90 minutes until another preacher prayed over him. During that time he talks about how he went to Heaven and got to experience it. To make a long story short, the guy talks about how long and painful his recovery was and that through the prayers of others he lived. He says and beleives that prayers definately work and God still performs miracles! So please keep praying for Derrick that he be completely healed from leukemia, he stays infection free, and that the new cells engraft.
A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.
Proverbs 17:17
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.
1Peter 5:6-7
2 comments:
From the cold and saddness of this past winter to the beautiful (at least to me) heat wave of this summer, transplant day is upon you. GET JACKED!!! You have inspired many, even a cantankerous teacher you had in high school. FIGHT ON, from one adopted USC brother to another.
Belated birthday hugs to DD.
Lenny
I have been following your blog and want you to know that my prayers are with you on transplant day. I've read that people celebrate their transplant day in future years as a re-"birthday". I wish you great success with your transplant and many re-"birthdays" to come. Interestly enough, tomorrow, July 23rd just happens to be my actual birthday. So we will now share that as a special day. I ended up on your blog because my life was changed by Leukemia in December of 2005 when my Mother was diagnosed. Unfortunately, she was not able to make it to transplant. And I research from time to time looking for success stories so I know what it would have lay ahead if we had been more fortunate. Long story though with different circumstances and I am very happy to read your story and see how great things are going and I look forward to following your success story. Mindy, I also read the book 90 Minutes in Heaven and enjoyed reading it. I saw it in Wal-Mart one day and read the back cover to see what it was about. I didn't buy it then. But I kept thinking about it afterward and just had to go back and get it. I enjoyed reading it and sometimes when I daydream about what heaven will be like and what it will be like when I get to see my Mom again some day, I envision descriptions given in that book.
My thoughts and prayers will be with you tomorrow in the coming days. May God bless you and keep you.
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