08/13/09 Third Week of Treatment

08/13/09 Happy Birthday - Today is Joe's birthday this is what they call the day his Stem Cells are given back to him. He had 16,000,000 stem cells infused today that is about three times more than what is returned to the average person but since Joe had such a good collection they were able to return more to him. They will freeze the remaining stem cells and keep them for ten years. Today did not start out to great for Joe he woke up very nauseous and was throwing up before we left for the hospital. I gave him some anti-nausea meds and he rested and had some toast, he felt a little better before we left. We had to be there at 8:00 so they could start the infusion at 10:00. They had to give Joe two hours of hydration and meds for nausea, light sedation and antibiotics. Once they started the infusion they hooked Joe to a heart monitor to watch for low blood pressure and a EKG for heart rhythm and he was given oxygen, all of these are left in place during the whole infusion. Joe was given six bags of stems cells which took about 15 to 20 mins per bag. There are doctors and nurses and lab techs in the room the whole time the infusion is in process. So Joe did great during the whole process, prior to the infusion they had their concerns over his heart but it stayed strong the whole time. So you know how Joe has done his funny stunts each morning with his Yankee stuff well the nurses got him back this morning they had a pair of red socks laying on his bed this morning for him to wear, you know the ones with the anti-skid bottoms. Well they all got the biggest kick out of it even Joe got a kick out of it even though he threw them at the nurses at the nurses station. Joe is pretty exhausted tonight he ate a little toast and some diced canned peaches and went to bed. I have been giving him his meds so far he is doing pretty good with the nausea tonight. They tell us the worst is yet to come. The Stem Cells are frozen with a preservative called DMSO, which prevents your cells from being destroyed during the freezing process. Well this also has side effects one of them is a bad smell that last up to 48 hours, I think it smells like canned cream corn. So poor Joe has this terrible taste and smell in his mouth also. Tomorrow he still has to go back to get another dose of Velcade and will start the G-CSF shots again to help increase his white blood cell count and Aranesp injection will be given to raise his red blood cell count. He may also have to have a platelet transfusion if necessary. All in all it was a good day and Joe is still staying strong and positive. We love you all and keep prayers coming.