On a more positive note.....

Jim & I went to the Space Needle today and you'll never guess who we bumped into.  Dave Matthews, you know, the musician.  That was fun!!!!  Nice guy, very humble.  He was with his son.  The view of the sound was fabulous.  We lucked out as far as weather goes. You could see for miles and miles.  What a great city!!!!

OK, so we met with the Cardiologist

Without trying to scare anyone.... the doctor said Jim has experienced mild heart failure due to the Chemotherapy he's had over the past few months.  However, this can be reversed with medication.  We were told that it would take about 4-6 weeks for the heart to recover.  In the meantime, we think what they were saying is that he could continue with his plans for the transplant.  That was good news.  But we're not out of the woods yet.  They still want to do a stress test of the heart.  So, here it is Friday of course and we have to wait for the results of all the tests that they've done until Monday or Tuesday.  This whole process has been all about PATIENCE. 

Another kink in the deal!

That's right, another set back.  Yesterday, they threw in another test to see if Jim's heart could withstand the high dose of chemo that is required.  The test is called a MUGA.  It's where they withdraw blood and then treat it with radioactive stuff and put it back in and then take pictures.  Anyway, today the doctor called us and asked us to come in to find out that his test results were below normal.  You need a 50 and he got a 42.  They actually thought he may have had a heart attack that he apparently wasn't aware of.  So, the doctor ordered an EKG and it showed that his heart wasn't pumping strongly enough.  The results were'nt that bad really.  But the doctor wants him to go to a cardiologist tomorrow for maybe a stress test.
One day at a time.  The transplant is on hold until we get this straightened out.  We pray for patience and will need strength.

Four days in Spokane - Yahoo!!!!!

A week ago Friday, our team gave us permission to take a break from all this and go to Spokane.  We left Saturday morning after one last blood draw and arrived in Spokane Saturday afternoon.  Seeing the pugs was such a joy for both of us.  We spoiled them with plenty of treats and pets.  We spent the next four days with friends - mostly eating while visiting.  This trip was the best medicine we could have had.  
We headed back to Seattle Wednesday morning for a meeting with our team that afternoon.  The next day Jim had another Hickman line put in on the other side of his chest.  On Friday we found out they put in the wrong Hickman line.  This one is an Apheresis line for collecting which makes it short and thick where the one the doctor ordered was supposed to be long and skinny.  It'll work just the same but now they need to use Heperin to clear the line for potential blood clots.  Jim shouldn't have heperin because of the bleeds in his head but they said it was just a small amount - not to worry.
So, this is the week leading up to the Big Transplant.  A few last minute tests and then the process begins.  Tuesday, another bone marrow biopsy.  Wednesday, another MRI.  And Thursday, a CT/Pet Scan.  Saturday, he will start the serious Chemo that will last for six days and on the seventh day they will infuse the stem cells that they collected from Jim a week or so ago.  The "transplant" is the actual infusion of the stem cells.  That is of course, if everything goes according to plan.  Which, unless they detect any cancer in his system it should be on track.  He needs to be cancer-free before the tranplant can take place.
So, after the actual "transplant", it will take 30 days for Jim to recuperate.  Hopefully we'll be home sometime in April.

What a scare last night!!!!!!

Jim has a Meherker line.  Bizarre!!!!  We will be posting a picture of this God-Awful tubing that just hangs out of his neck.  It is hooked up to his jugular vein.  Last night it started to squirt out blood which freaked us out beyond belief.  We rushed to the clinic where they applied ice to get the blood to clot.  Then the nurse cleaned up the site and changed the dressing.  Jim is OK.  This morning should be the last day of collection.  Right now, he's hooked up to the Apheresis machine and this process will take 5 hours.  Not sure yet if he needs hydration which takes 4 hours.  More than likely he will need a blood transfusion because his platelets are low.  He's feeling pretty good but is getting really tired of spending so much time at the clinic.  He is being quite the trooper.  His attitude has been positive but would love a break from all this.

Another day of stem cell collection

Jim spent the whole day at the clinic today.  First, they wanted to collect more stem cells.  They need 5 million.  That took 4 and a half hours. Then he had to spend an additional 4 hours getting hydrated. Plus an hour of antibiotics.
We met the new doctor today.  He told us that Jim has to get all the tests again before he can go to transplant.  Those tests include a pet scan, CT, MRI, and a spinal fluid test.  They need to be certain that Jim is absolutely cancer free before he can go to transplant.
 We expressed an interest in going to Spokane for a bit and the team said that that may be a possibility.
In the meantime, Jim will continue to get hydration until his kidneys are back to normal.  He will be getting antibiotics for another week or so.  We'll find out tomorrow if he has collected enough stem cells.  If not, he'll get hooked up to the apheresis machine so they can collect more.

Hi from UW hospital

Today.... Jim's stem cells are being collected!!!!!!
He still has an infection from the Hickman line that was put in last Wednesday. They had to pull the line.   He has been getting antibiotics via an IV every 12 hours ever since.  Also he has had to get hydration because his kidneys are acting up due to the chemo he had last week.  So, needless to say we've been spending a lot of time at the clinic.

They put in a temporary line so they could collect today.  The good news is he just finished after 4 hours of mobilization here at UW hospital.  We'll find out tomorrow if he has enough stem cells to go to transplant.  They've told us that the transplant should take place at the end of February.

We miss all of you tremendously.  We are trying to get permission to go to Spokane for a few days.  But we're not going anywhere until Jim's infection is cleared up.  Not sure what our schedule looks like pre-transplant.  But should we go to the other side of the mountains we will let everyone know.