Day -1

Today is referred to as day -1, aka, the day before my stem cell transplant. Since my last post I have actually been feeling better; not quite as much nausea and a little better appetite and energy level. Brooke came to spend the day with me yesterday, which was fantastic. She is the love of my life and at times I forget how much I just love spending time with her doing nothing at all. She is so  much stronger than I ever knew she could be and that has been evidenced by how she has dealt with all that has gone on over the last year with such grace, beauty, and rarely a complaint. I know I take her for granted a lot, but I hope she knows just how much I love and appreciate the amazing person she is and all that she does to keep our live not only afloat but running smoothly.

It killed my not being able to see the kids though. I miss them a lot. It's just not logistically possible to have them come very often for multiple reasons. Just take a quick glimpse at this video clip and you'll have an idea why.

 So, tomorrow my little stem cells will come to the rescue. It is just like a blood transfusion, but stem cells. It will probably take them about 9 or 10 days to engraft and really start reproducing my immune system. They say the worst days will be the middle to end of this week as the side effects of all the chemo I've recieved over the last week kicks in. This will also be the time when my white blood cells (infection fighters) will drop to zero and I will be completely vulnerable. Hopefully the side effects will be somewhat kind to me and my cells will reproduce rapidly. I'm trying to get out of her by day +10 so I can be well on my way to that BYU vs. Texas football game on the 10th of Sept. Go Cougars!

Here's a lovely pic of my hallway and my room.