Wow I’m awake.

Peggy is helping Chase with school, so I am decided to make a contribution to the website. Actually, Peggy has the info; and knows the facts much better than I do. I get confused…. plus she’s a better speller.

Then of course there’s the issue with me sleeping all the time. Especially since stem cell collection began, I sleep almost all day. I wake up to be shuttled off to get hooked up to the “stem cell sucker” machine, then off for more tests, then a shot, maybe a bathroom break, or Dr’s visit, and then I go back to the apartment totally drained. So, I sleep some more.

We got word today that I will probably be finished with stem cell collection Friday or Saturday. My collection count for today was right at 700,000, which is on the low side. All in all, we think the collection process was a success because I wound up with nearly 6 million cells, which is enough for another transplant.

Another cool thing that happened from yesterday is that I started using a pain relieving patch ~ Fentanyl, instead of pain pills. I can take the pills in addition to the patch but I haven't had to. The patch has made me a lot more mobile, since I don’t have peaks and valleys. Now I don’t have to wonder if it is going to hurt to stand up because my meds have worn off.

Believe it or not, just typing all this up is making me tired, so I’ll let Peggy finish this note. Before I go, I do want to thank you all for being so diligent in your prayers, it gives me strength and I thank you.

Yes, glad Frank is awake and in the living room with us! He even helped Chase with some history. I like it when he updates, I just can't get him to very often.

Yesterday’s appointment with Dr. Barlogie left us drained and confused. At the end of it all, we decided to press on with collection, while he met with his team at Tuesday Conference (a round table discussion about your specific case) and we would meet with him again next Wed.

Frank spiked a 101.7 fever last night and still had fever during his collection today, so we went back to our unit and saw the APN and doctor there. They opted not to give him antibiotics while he is collecting because it interferes with the process. They ran blood cultures, etc and are watching him. He’s had infusers, whole blood and/or platelets every day. Collection depletes these things so it's normal to need replacements.

When I dropped him off yesterday, a lady that helps patients from their car to the doors knows who we are. She got a kick out of his outfit the other day too. She told Frank that radiology didn’t realize he was joking when he "dropped in" and thought he was a patient on the loose. They called Campus Police and they were looking for him for 2 hours! Oh… Frank enjoyed hearing that!

We'll be in touch! Have a GREAT time trick or treating! We'll miss being out in our cove with our neighors and miss our neighorhood party.

Well, we had an interesting day!

Frank and I got to the hospital at 7 am. We think he had another good day of collecting. Our guy today told us he expects about 1.3 million, but they'll know tomorrow after they've been counted. Anything over 500,000 means we get to keep going. After Frank collected, he got a bag of whole blood and Potassium/Magnesium "to go". He was tired at the end of today.

Frank dressed up for Halloween. He got the usual glances, laughs, and of course, the ones who walk on the other side of the hallway afraid of him. He had fun with it and it lightened his load, which makes me happy. He wore the hospital patient outfit with the gown open in the back, the 'booty' showing, and topped it off with his bad teeth inserts. If you've ever seen the movie Radio... that's what he looked like.... a white Radio in the hospital.

We made it out of hospital just in time to have an adventure. My friend Heather and her husband took a hot air balloon ride last week. Through the course of the ride, our name came up and she shared our story with the Balloon guy. He said he wanted to take us up! Up, Up and Away.... in a beautiful balloon! He's a pilot with FedEx, (and a Miss State fan) but lives here and has been doing balloons for 20 years. We were thrilled at the idea of it.... (Chase was very nervous, which we teased him about. But he was brave and got over it) It was a clear and gorgeous day and just amazing!! Frank didn't think it was best for him to go up, so he stayed with the 'chaser' and met up with us at the end. He took pictures.

There we are...... yes, there are 5 of us in that tiny basket!

Tomorrow, we have to be in Apheresis at 7. They are going to collect and get us out of there quick so we can make our appointment to see Dr. Barlogie. We're anxious to discuss the PET, MRI and plans for vertebraeplasty. Frank is most anxious to get his ticket to Germantown.

We are specifically asking for prayer about our time with Dr. Barlogie ~ that God would give him all he needs to fight this disease and still meet each patients needs with wisdom and compassion.

Until tomorrow..... :)

later that day....

We believe we've seen God work in a mighty way today.

We are trying to collect stem cells from him which is very hard to do after the marrow has been damaged from chemo. (The first time he collected we got over 40 million cells in one day.)

The procount is something they check each day. It is suppose to tell them about how many cells they can anticipate collecting in a day based on this lab value. Sat the procount was 1 million. He collected 1.1 million. As a general rule, you collect less each day.

Today his procount was 200,000. Our nurse said, it we can't get 500,000 cells in a day, we call it quits. I am not expecting you to collect that many today based on your procount, so i'll call you when i know for sure but this is probably it.

She called. Frank got 2 million today! Twice what he got Saturday! 4 times more than he needed to be able to try again tomorrow.

We are speechless at the goodness of God for his mercy and grace.....

Psalm 106
Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

It's Monday - our 5th Monday here, and hopefully our last for a while. We are hoping we can go home after the appointment on Thursday and be home for the weekend. That would be nice!

Yesterday was such a relaxing day. Frank got up early and went to get his shot, and was able to get back in time for us to go to church. The Ray's picked us up and we went with them. Our spirits were recharged and it was wonderful to worship together. Afterwards, we had a great lunch and then went fishing! The boys were able to catch serveral big catfish, and one tiny winnie one before we had to rush back.

It was great to have the kids back. They all had a very productive weekend at home. Chandler continued her training with a 10 mile run on Sat with Kristy. Zach's LOBOS team won the tournament they played this weekend. We're sorry we missed it, but are so proud of all of them. And Chase went camping and dirt bike riding with the Gormans in Brownsville and had a lot of fun. Thank you mom for always being there for us and helping the weekend go smoothly!

We got to the Apheresis unit today at 7. I'm glad he's sleeping, waiting on them to get started. His pain meds didn't agree with him this morning. Still and quiet is good right now. Our nurse told us that Saturday's count came in at 1.1 million. It think that is just wonderful. She said that was a reasonable goal, but might be hard to do...... and of course.... are we shocked at all? :)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud0kaWLHEd4

Things went well yesterday. His CVL line got put in without any difficulty. In fact, he had a good time talking to the man working with him. He was from Lake Village, AR and knew our friends from there very well! It's a small world. While he was doing that, I had run into one of the couples we'd seen so much over the past year. They were heading home to NC and it was so good to see them and how they were. I had asked about them so much this visit and it relieved my worries.

When we got back to the unit for his fluids and shots, scheduling called to set up the vertebraeplasty. She said the doctor saw the MRI and said he needed one, but when we got a copy of MRI, we had questions. There is small fracture in the cervical spine, and some compresson at T5. We want some clarification from the doctor, but it'll be Monday before we can talk to someone.

His PET scan was at 7pm. With the new line on one side and his port-a-cath accessed on the other, he said he felt like the back of a PC with wires everywhere. He was good and hungry after the test. I like watching him think about what he wants to eat. He really does ponder over what sounds good. He decided on KFC chicken, esp craving the slaw. So, we flipped channels and licked our fingers until time for bed. He slept on the couch so he wouldn't bother the line or his shoulder.

We got to the Aphereis unit at 7. They checked his counts. I have no idea what they're looking at, but whatever it is - a Procount - it's a predictor of how many cells they think they'll get from him that day. His count was 800,000 today, so the nurse said getting a million today would be a reasonable goal. Once you've had a transplant, the marrow is not the same, so it won't be like the first time we collected. We both slept through most it. Frank was kind enough to make room for me. The nap was nice for us both and the time passed quickly.

Being able to collect again brings hope to me. It keeps options open for him and I am so thankful for the opportunity to get more precious cells for him to use. Let's pray for the shots to keep working and the collection process to go quickly!

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

We got out of there at 11:50 and shuffled to the MRI room for his noon appointment. They're going to do the other parts of the body scan since they only did spine and pelvis yesterday.

After this we are headed to the hospital unit to finish out the day. His white count is high because of the shots for collection, but his other levels are low today.

WBC 13.55
Hct 25.3
Hgb 8.4

He's getting some whole blood today, some platelets and Potassium and Magnesium infusers to go home with.

It's a long and busy day, and he's still taking pain meds around the clock. I know he's tired, and sore, and ready to go home. I look for ways to comfort him and try and keep his spirits high, but no doubt, it's the other way around. I just saw him pull out his Hope card and give it to someone.......

2 Cor 1:3-5
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.