Cells are in

We are at DHMC and the donor cells were infused at 3:45pm. I would like to say that it has been event free leading up to this, but alas no. It seems like Pam has been the star of a reality TV show that tries to see how much one person can handle before they break!

Well of course there has been the broken leg (spiral fracture)to contend with. Pam is semi famous at the ortho office. A Dr. came in the other day and said "Your the one. I heard about you and how Dr. Kristiansen wedged your bone in place with tongue depressors!" No driving, walking, use of hands due to crutches. That has been taxing to say the least. Knowing you are going to be laid up for several weeks from the transplant and then having this happen several weeks before: not good. Pam has had to rely on everyone else to do everything for her for the most part and as you know, that is not her style.

So the leg is healing nicely, she can start to gradually put some weight on it, and in 6 weeks it should be fully healed. So what happens next? One of the boys brings home lice..... again, not good. Sam, Tucker and Pam got it. After washing everyone's hair in chemicals, washing every item in the house, vacuuming every piece of furniture, and waiting; it resurfaced again a few days later. Mind you Pam did most of that cleaning and work on crutches! So when it came back the three of them covered their hair in vegetable oil and saran wrap for 4 hours, we then had to wash and comb out and go through every single hair to remove any eggs. Several hours. Pam had a breakdown on this day, lots of tears and why me. Again, not good.

We took the boys out of school last Monday and went to Montreal to the Biodome. I was on vacation and we wanted to treat them to a surprise fun day before Pam headed in for the treatment. This was a fun time. We went into the Olympic Pool area after and saw international Olympic divers practicing for a big meet. This, was good.

We started Chemo on Sat. to start lowering her immune system. That went well. Down and back for 3 days, she was able to stay at home. Lots of driving, but what the hell, the oil companies need the $$$. Seriously, it was great for her and I to not have to stay down in Hanover at a hotel this time. We were able to spend 3 more days with the boys.

Tuesday was supposed to be Pam's day off, but this turned out to be the only day they could put in her central line, so we had to come down to DHMC again, no day off to prepare, pack, mentally prep. Again, not good.

When they were putting in the central line on Tuesday, they accidentally poked something or opened something (not really sure), but they were concerned of infection so they decided to give her an antiobiotic. This would take an extra hour or two. About 1/2 hour into the IV bag, she started to have a reaction (head itching, face beet red). So they had to slow it way down and give her Benadryl. This caused her to be pretty sleepy and out of it, and meant we didn't get out of DHMC until 3pm on our "day off". Again, not good.

They did however push back her radiation treatment to 11am so we could be home to get the boys off to school and then come down (originally we were going to have to leave at 6am to get to DHMC for 8am treatment). This made us happy as Pam was able to see boys off to school today (although a rough morning with some sad kids). We arrived and checked in at HISCU (special unit where bone marrow transplant patients stay). They hooked Pam to her bag of fluids and sent her down to radiation. We were sent in to the prep area and waited a bit. Dr. Zaki came out and told us he had been instructed by Dr. Meehan to not treat Pam yet as there seemed to be a problem with the donor cells. Again, not good.

After a 2 hour wait we were told everything was a go! It seems the machine that checks the viability of the cells was not working properly the first time they checked them and read them as less than 1% viable, turns out they were 98.5% viable. Good.

So at 3:45pm on the 5th of May, 2010 - the donor cells are in. One hour later, Pam threw up. Here we go! Pam is sleeping beside me now. The next few weeks are really just a time to recover from the radiation, chemo, and the wear and tear on the body from the cells trying to engraft. Once her white cell counts get high enough they will send her home (probably 17-24 days).

Pray for those tiny little cells to go out and kill some cancer!
Troy