Day -7 Welcome to the jPad

It's been a long time coming, but JoAnne has finally made it to the University of Minnesota for her stem cell transplant. Room 4-211 will be her home for the next 4 to 6 weeks. Click the pics for a larger view.  

She was greeted upon arrival at the U by Lucy. They didn't have any carts so baggage was transported by wheelchair. We loaded up two wheelchairs, but I have no frame of reference as to whether that is a lot or not. How do you pack for a stem cell transplant?

We were quickly ushered to JoAnne's room only to find out they had given it to an overflow Oncology patient. We were moved to the last room on the unit tucked away down the hall. Small? I am pretty sure they brought the Chilean miners to this room to help them decompress and reassimilate after months underground.  We are going to be here for awhile so we hope to get something more spacious. I stood on the windowsill to get this pic; bathroom and closet on the left. At least there are shades on the windows for those always important conjugal visits :-)

Did I mention small? It does have a nice view although JoJo's bed is too far away from the window to see anything but sky. In deference to contemporary naming standards, this closet shall henceforth be referred to as the jPad. It is an isolation unit and she will be confined for the next 4+ weeks. And we do mean confined. Infection control is the primary objective and they don't take it lightly. 

Greetings from JoAnne! Thanks for all your support, prayers and kindness. We love you all and look forward to celebrating a successful outcome with all of our supporters. I am at:

 University of Minnesota Hospitals and Clinics

Unit 4B Room 4-211

420 Delaware St. SE

Minneapolis, MN 55455

In the afternoon, I received some IV antibiotics and then went to surgery for my catheter implant. We are meeting a platoon of doctors, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, residents, et al. I've got so many people poking around my body, I feel like an archeological dig. I long ago lost all modesty :-)

On the calendar, this is referred to as Day -7. Days -6 to -2 will be chemo days. I have had these chemos before but they lost their endurance as time went on. They will come in higher doses and should still be effective in knocking back the cancer and obliterating my immune system. How long that lasts isn't as important now as the transplanted stem cells will promptly get after the cancer cells that remain.

On Day -1, I will get a dose of total body radiation. The radiation is less of a concern to me than the position I have to assume and hold for 20-30 minutes. You sit on a bed with your knees pulled up to your chest and your hands on your shins just below your knees. To make sure you don't move, they duct tape you together. Honest. When I was a kid, I could sit like that for hours, but those days are long gone.

Day O is Transplant Day. It is a day of significance, but almost anticlimactic in that it is simply infusing a bag of stem cells. My brother Bill will probably disagree as he gets a daily shot of human growth hormone to rev up his stem cell production for several days prior to undergoing apheresis to harvest the cells. With luck, he can produce all that is needed in one 5-6 hour stint.

I am told that I will lose my hair in Week 2 and I won't even speculate on the other symptoms. Let's just take it as it comes. The first major milestone comes at Day 28 when a bone marrow biopsy is done to determine the extent to which the transplanted stem cells have taken hold.

That's enough for now. I'm going to rest up for tomorrow's Invasion of the Toxins.

Cancer Sucks