Update

It is Sat. am. When Dirk last posted we were in a wait mode. In the mean time we have resolved (at least I hope we have) one last hurdle for my being ready for the transplant process. Some background here may be helpful. M D Anderson (MDA) has a philosophy that since they treat cancer they will have all the ancillary services available, in house, to acheive that goal, staffed with people trained with cancer  and its treatment in mind. So as I prepare for stem cell transplant (SCT) I will have a period of 3 to 4 weeks in the hospital with basically an extremely low or non existent immune system, having frequent blood transfusions and all the protected environment I need to give my body a chance to let the new stem cells take hold and grow. Then for a period following that, of perhaps 100 days, Lynne and I will need to live within 15 to 20 minutes of the hospital in case of emergency, especially infections. My system will be compromised for long time to come. To mitagate against infections and all possible scenarios, they want to minimize all risks and possible problems as far ahead as possible.  To this end they have their own cardiolgy, ophthamology, radiology,  you name the "ology" they have it. Both Dirk and I have had to be cleared by various services, first, for Dirk to donate and, then, for me to receive the SCT. It is really something to see this "behometh institution" function this way and, for the most part, so smoothly. There have been a couple of times I have had to go outside those "holy walls" to get the service I needed. For example I developed an ingrown toe nail and they suggested I go to my family doc. That went smoothly. On the other hand one of the services that needed to clear me was the dental and I started that in July. Since then, for various reasons, all of my appointments were canceled. We had worked hard at making appointments to coincide with good blood counts. Over all, 6 cancelations. They recommended I go to an outside dentist. I did. I put her in touch with my SCT doc and they have consulted with one another. The dentist from MDA is officially the one to sign off on this. He has apparently disagreed with my dentist's suggested course of action. I think we have that one worked out now, as of 5:00 on Friday. It felt a little like being the tail trying to wag the dog. The Behometh works well and smoothly but does not flex or change easily. So we are moving ahead again. Dirk has stayed healthy over the last few weeks. He had to be rechecked in  a couple of cardio tests and those and his blood work were all "geen lights". He received his neupogen shots on Fri. and will continue those on Sat., Sun. and Mon. and blood work on Mon. am and then we will get the word on harvesting stem cells either on Mon. or Tue. Dirk does not want to be thanked again so I won't do that again. While all this is going on, Fri.,  Elly woke up with a numbness on the left side of her face and it has really been doing a number on her left eye because the lid does not close. Thankfully our  family Dr. made time to see her and confirmed that it was Bells Palsy and was able to perscribe medications for her. She's hanging in there. Thank you Elly for being here. On another note Lynne has taken this window, of my relatively good health, and with Dirk and Elly being here so I am not alone, as an opportunity to see her family in Michigan. After the SCT starts she is my caretaker and it will be long commitment. I will be relying heavily on her. She's my main "go to". I love you hon! Well, that was our week and to top it off, Isaac had exams all week and now its Saturday and a Texas Indian Summer Day. There's enough grist for God's mill in all of this. I wait to see how it goes