Last Chemo Treatment – we hope!

It is 8:30 a.m. and Tim is chewing on crushed ice for 30 minutes before his last chemo treatment. He will continue this throughout the infusion and 30 minutes after. They say that it has been shown that if the mouth is kept very cold, the mouth sores produced as a result of this chemo are reduced by 50%. That sounds like an easy solution.

He also gets popsicles so I ordered up a root beer one for me. Figured it could be a good photo moment. Stay tuned !

This infusion is only about 30 minutes long and then he is done for the day. Tomorrow is the big day. The transplant should start at around 9:30 a.m. He has 4 bags and each should take about 15 minutes. It is hard to believe that all these months and treatments culminate in a 1 hour procedure.

They call transplant day, “day zero.” They refer to each day after as day 1, day 2, etc. They tell us that on day 5 he gets antibiotics, day 9-15 the bone marrow starts to regenerate new cells and so on. But every milestone is followed with the words, “but everyone is different.”

So far the only side effect he has had while the chemo has been given has been a big cramping in his right hand. Goofy!

They are giving him a muscle relaxant. He will be tired and sleepy in no time. Good deal, then I will have control of the TV remote and he won't even care.

Tim has done very well so far with no nausea to speak of yet. We have been able to go for long walks around the med center at least twice a day. He has been strong and in good spirits. We know that the later part of this week and next week may be more challenging.

We miss all of you and appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Share this with others.

Love,
Julie and Tim