Continuing on the upward swing

Andrew's platelet count is higher than it has been for many years and approaching near normal levels. White count is very slowly creeping up ... so all good news on the cell front. Red cells are always the slowest to engraft. I think at they will soon try to do a blood test to work out what percentage of his blood cells are his own and what percentage are Grants. It can take up to a year for full chimerism. So everything is going along as expected.

On the move!

Those blood cells are on the move! Monday and again today Andrew's labs showed increased platelet numbers, indicating that the cells are starting to proliferate. White cells were up slightly too today but still too low to get too excited. The red cells are last to engraft and so Andrew had another transfusion. Fatigue is Andrew's biggest issue, no other nasty graft vs host issues or anything ... so things are going well. He is also chronically low on magnesium (I think this is due to the drugs he has to take) so gets an infusion of those each visit. Day off from Stanford tomorrow and back early Friday morning.
I did the Nike Women's Marathon with friends in San Francisco on Sunday. This event raises money for the leukemia/lymphoma society. Met lots of "team in training" friends running (in the rain) -  all doing this "for Andrew" and others fighting blood cancer - so encouraging and inspiring.

How my days are spent

Well what have I been doing to keep myself entertained while confined to base with a lot of spare time on my side.  The good news is this transplant has kept my head in much better shape than my first transplant.  While I feel tired a lot of the time (no stationary biking yet), I mostly have  no problems reading (Spin by Robert Charles Wilson was one of the best science fiction books I have read), working out some algorithms that I just find fun, doing a bit of programming on our new PC (loaded with UBUNTU) and watching old streaming nexflix movies.

My friend John showed me a great website called the Euler Project (www.projecteuler.net).  Problems are presented and the idea is to write a bit of C code to solve the problem.  The problems start off pretty easy but get more and more complex.  In total you have 305 problems, the last ones look like you probably need a math Phd to solve.  I have just started but I am having a good time going through my old number theory books and papers.

So far I have been spending  Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at Stanford Hospital.  The time is spent taking blood draws, filling me up with magnesium and having platelet and blood transfusions.   My counts are still on the floor but am hoping they  will start climbing up in a week or so.   I usually don't do that much after a hospital visit.

Day +10

Well things have been progressing pretty much according to the plan. We head off to Stanford every other day. The nurse takes labs and vitals etc. While waiting for lab results there is either a chest x-ray or visit from dietitian or something or other scheduled. Labs take about an hour and a half and then they decide what's on the menu ... whatever it is for the day is hung from the IV (magnesium, potassuim, platelets ... more hydration) and drips in for a few hours. During that time the doc visits to review meds, check out skin rashes etc. We have the early shift (arrive 7am) and therefore usually done by noon. Apart from the fatigue, Andrew is doing/feeling OK. His blood counts are very low as Grant's stem cells make their way to Andrew's marrow to mature. It is important therefore to take all sorts of precautions to keep the germs away. We wash our hands obsessively, follow all the protocols for home (cleaning and special diet etc) and Andrew keeps away from the maddening crowds and wears a big old mask if he ventures out. With mum here to look after everything on the home front I was able to have a nice run on Saturday and watch both Angus and Alice play soccer on Sunday. Feels like we are having an extended summer here - nice!

New month, new moon, new man!

October 1st .. transplant day. All went well. The process was longer than anticipated because not enough cells were collected on the first attempt so Grant had to repeat his apheresis procedure again .  Andrew had one bag of goodies delivered in the morning and the second in the afternoon.  A few pints (no, not beer) on Saturday put the pink back in his cheeks and the skip back in his step. Nothing unexpected as of this morning. Grant heading back over the pond (to Australia) with his suitcase overflowing (he did a little bit of shopping while he was here). Enjoyed a delicious chicken and mushroom dish cooked by an anonymous iron angel and Pat's crumb cake (thank you to both). Thinking of our friend Alison and her family. Her daughter Adrienne lost a long and courageous battle with Hodgkin's disease a year ago.

Transplant Day 0

Not enough stem cells collected yesterday so Grant is out there doing it all again. About to take Andrew out now for the first round. He will then have a second round of the cells they are currently collecting from Grant.