RED LIPSTICK

Bright and early this morning Jeff checked into the hospital's Oncology Day Services ward where over the course of the next 6 hours his stem cells will be collected and prepared for tomorrow's transfusion. Here's a video of the machine working away separating out the stem cells from his blood. Jeffs blood is being drawn… Continue reading Pretty impressive stuff going on here.

With 5/6 radiation treatments down, we are a day away from "Day Zero" - Transplant day. Scott also had his last dose of chemo ever on Tuesday night. He is continuing his laundry list of meds as well, including an anti rejection drug that is derived from the cells of a rabbit. Not sure how… Continue reading Day -1

Not sure if the universe just wants to keep us all on our toes, or what, but the transplant is back on! Jeff had a bone marrow biopsy this morning and additional blood samples taken, which were expedited quickly and returned completely normal results. Whatever characteristics were present on Saturday, are no longer there and… Continue reading Just kidding?

Scott's transplant has been delayed until further notice.  This process is extremely regulated and every precaution is taken to ensure that it goes smoothly and accordingly to plan. But sometimes there are bumps in the road, and we've come across one that will delay things a bit.  Some characteristics in Jeffs blood, from a sample… Continue reading Change of plan.

Never thought I'd write that! But really, if he needs to be holed up in a hospital room, having nothing to do but watch golf could be considered a silver lining. And I'm glad he has the distraction. Scott's Hickman was inserted yesterday morning, and his PICC was removed. The procedure was actually fairly quick,… Continue reading Thank goodness for the Masters.

I've been kind of pretending that everything is normal and Scott is healthy and it's just a typical April day (despite the weather!). OK not really, but Scott's checking back into his room at Juravinski on Thursday, and I'm not sure it's totally soaked in for either of us. We had a meeting with his… Continue reading Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.

We're at day 26 and Scott is feeling much better. It took longer than we expected for him to rebound from consolidation - and low counts and need for transfusions concerned us. Dr. L reminded us, yet again, that we don't need to stress out and the quick recovery from reinduction was definitely not typical,… Continue reading Silver Fox

Scott is now home and fever free. Shakey and still neutropenic, but back in the comforts of home to continue recovering from consolidation. It was lovely to walk to and from OT to visit Scott over the last while but we missed the familiarity of the Juravinski nursing squad. We were relieved to learn that… Continue reading Transplant booked!

Just when we were thinking consolidation round 1 was going to pass without giving him any serious trouble..... Scott was admitted yesterday morning because his temperature was above 38 degrees (a fever) and that's a sign of an infection that needs attention. Doctors kept reminding us that about half of all patients get a fever… Continue reading Checking out the new neighbours

As I shared earlier, Dr. L. confirmed that a transplant would occur in the near future, and that given the results from Jeff that it will likely happen in April.  An exact date hasn't been nailed down yet as it will depend on bed availability. I'll be honest, I didn't realize until recently during a… Continue reading Looking good after consolidation round 1