It hit me this morning as I looked at my calendar – I check into the hospital for transplant ONE week from today! I feel like I have been prepping for the past month or more – making lists, checking them twice….oh wait, that’s not me, that’s the guy in red. Anywho, we are almost at go time! It still feels like it has crept up on me. Thankfully it has been a super busy summer. The twins have had work and baseball and even worked on a little school here and there. Gus has continued to do well with his treatment and has acquired quite the head of blond hair – I still don’t know what to think about that! Getting the store ready to open has been a fun distraction. We did decide to delay opening till October (it would be quite difficult to do from the hospital bed) but I have plenty of store tasks saved for while I’m inpatient – like ordering merchandise. Ya’ll know how I like to drunk order while in the hospital – who knows what all Sparta Mercantile will be selling! You’ll just have to come and see! The past several weeks have been full of pre-transplant appointments and all have gone quite smoothly. This past week I took Murphy for all of his pre-donor testing and we had a great time together. Him being my donor has added a whole other layer of meaning to this ordeal. Here is a quick rundown of what the next couple of weeks will look like:
This coming Thursday I will meet with Dr. Kota and cover any other last minute things that need to be covered. Friday, August 16 I will check into the hospital and begin my pre-transplant chemo to empty out my bone marrow to be ready for Murph’s cells. On Saturday the 17th, Murphy will begin to take shots to boost his bone marrow to make more cells so there are plenty to donate. Wednesday the 21st Murphy will take his last shot and go to the apheresis lab for cell collection. The process takes around 6 hours. He will have an IV in each arm – one will take blood from his body and send it through the machine to spin out the stem cells. Then the machine will put the blood (minus those precious cells) back into his body. He will log in a lot of Netflix time that day. That same morning I will go over to the radiation center and have a session of total body radiation. While I have had radiation before I haven’t had this kind. I had the simulation this week where they made a mold of my entire body – including my face (which gets strapped down to the table so I can’t move). The whole treatment will take about an hour – with me not moving – claustrophobia anyone?! Then I will go back to my room for my last chemo before transplant. Murph and I plan to have a killer slumber party that night. Finally, on Thursday the 22nd, they will transfer Murphy’s cells to me.
We are all handling things pretty well. I think we have each made peace with the situation in our own ways. A lot has been talked about and talked through. And a lot just goes without saying. It has been a heavy and emotional summer but so much growth has taken place in each of us. We continue to pray for complete healing in both Gus and me. We hope that this is just another chapter in one amazing story of God’s hand working in the lives of our little family to display His glory in unimaginable ways.
I continue to read each and every comment, text, message, etc. even if I don’t comment back. Not a day goes by that I am not blown away by the love shown to us. Please continue to lift all six of us up in prayer as we head into this week. I’ll keep you all posted on the progress and post my room number once I’m all checked in and settled and have new names for my different medical devices 😉
much love,
Lesley
Cancermamma 