What's to Come

So, now that my cancer is back in remission it's time for the bone marrow transplant. I have two more weeks to recuperate and then the process will begin. I cannot say that I am looking forward to it, however I am looking forward to being done with it. The technology and advances that we have today in medicine really are amazing and I'm so thankful I live now and not even 15-20 yrs ago. My transplant will be done at Barnes Jewish (Wash U, Siteman Cancer Center) in St. Louis. So, on to the process.

I am receiving an autologous bone marrow transplant, or stem cell transplant. This means that I will be receiving my own cells, not those from a donor. On the 29th I'll start getting shots of growth-colony stimulating factor, or G-CSF, which will cause my bone marrow to produce stem cells. I'll receive injections for 4-5 days straight and then on the fifth day they will start harvesting the stem cells that will have spilled over into my blood. They will harvest the cells by taking my blood out, spinning out the stem cells, and then replacing my blood. This will be done everyday for 1-4 days until they have enough stem cells. Then on the 8th of August I will be admitted to the hospital and start a very high dose chemotherapy (BEAM regimen) to essentially kill off any remaining cancer cells and my bone marrow for 7 days. This will completely wipe out my immune system making my body unable to fight any infection so I will be on high dose antibiotics as well. Since this also wipes out the body's ability to make blood/platelets there is a good chance I will need blood transfusions during this time. Once the week of chemo is over they will do the stem cell rescue (picture my stem cells in little super-hero uniforms w/capes) and then it is just a matter of waiting for the stem cells to reform my immune system and blood counts. This will take anywhere from 7-21 days. Once my blood counts have come back to normal I will be able to come home (barring any other complications).

So it looks like I will be in the hospital for most of August and it sounds like I'll pretty much be a limp noodle for most of that. Awesome, can't wait! It's going to be hard being away from Brooke and the kids for that long, but at least they will be close enough (1 1/2 hrs) to come visit often. My brother Brian and his family also live in St. Louis so I'm sure I'll see them and they are kind enough to let us crash there any time. I feel bad for Brooke having to deal with the kids and run everything all by herself the whole time I'm gone. 

The doctor said she thought I would be feeling well enough to work full time by the beginning of October, so hopefully that really is the case and I recover quickly. It will be interesting to see what side effects this chemo will have in store for me, as this will be the third different regimen I will have gone through.