Day 29 - Been pretty lazy blogging lately, but doing well!

Hey everybody, its been a while!
Things have been well, no major side effects yet, and as of yesterday, no more shots in my stomach to prevent clots!

Many many people have been here both to stay with me as well as just to visit, and there has been an interesting clashing of worlds.  Many of my family members have met various friends from CL and beyond and vice versa.  People I would never have imagined in the same room, as you can see from this example:

I've also had a chance to share quite a few meals with friends and family

and had some really great conversations with you all, for which I am always grateful.  My family has been able to come stay over a few nights so far (which is amazing) and I think they are coming again this weekend.  In the meantime, there seems to be some baseball fever in Saint Cloud this summer:

I wish I had more to update you on my medical situation, but I don't have much to say except things are going well so far and the doctors seem happy with my progress.  Thank you all!

Bitter sweet

as Vero posted, I finally was able to leave my room and actually go outside today.  It’s a feeling that’s hard to express after being in that room tied to a pole for multiple weeks.  I am very happy and grateful for all the generosity and kindness I have received in this time both for the people that came to stay with me, as well as those who stayed with my family.  With that said, I am saddened that one of my great friends is leaving tomorrow, and so is the rest of my family.  The girls forced her to make this crostata today

Olivetta, thank you for being here for us.  You will be dearly missed!

Day 16 - breaking free

After 21 days in the hospital today Dan got discharged from the BMT unit and this what he looked like

Oh yeah! We are all so happy. We are grateful to the staff of the BMT unit at the U of M Medical Center for the excellent care and to Dan’s family and friends who never left him alone by visiting, calling and praying for him. Thank you to all the day and overnight visitors who made it possible for Dan to never spend a day or night alone. Thanks to all these guys’ wives who made it possible for their husbands to spend the night at the hospital. Many of them have small children who don’t sleep through the night! Dan’s room was an office, a living room, a bedroom, a movie theater and a church. Thanks to the priests who came to celebrate Mass on the tiny round table. 

Now Dan has moved to an apartment nearby and we look forward to each day until August 21st when, God willing, Dan will get to come back home. A special thanks to Dana and Stella who have been coordinating my life and all the shifts to make sure Dan was not alone. 

Day 15 - ready for discharge !

Dan’s white blood cell count is up to 8 thousand. He’s ready to leave the hospital tomorrow as long as the apartment we will be renting a couple of blocks from the hospital and the clinic has been vacated and cleaned. Otherwise he’ll stay one more day. This is so exciting and such great news.

Day 8-11

Dan is doing pretty well all things considered. The doctors are very pleased with his progress. His infections are responding to the antibiotic treatments. He is dealing with unpleasant but expected side effects of radiation and chemo. He still has very painful sores in his throat which make it challenging to swallow. However this has not prevented him from enjoying home cooked meals, chipotle and punch pizza. He continues to receive visits from many good friends and family members. He is able to work. He is doing some physical therapy to avoid losing strength and endurance. He has turned down massage therapy cause who needs to relax when you have a wife like me, so calm and composed. The doctors told us to prepare for a possible discharge from the hospital by next weekend. We did not expect this but of course it would be great! When his blood counts start rising they will rise sharply. For now he’s still neutropenic and needing platelet transfusions occasionally. Thanks for the continued prayers.

Day 7

Transplant was a week ago! Dan is feeling well today. He has been working most of the day from his new office.  He has shaved most of his beard in preparation for a hairless near future.

Days 5 and 6

Not much has changed over the weekend. Dan’s mouth is still quite sore, however he’s been able to eat a bit more since the nausea has improved. We visited him today. We brought him some pasta and crostata from home and we ate lunch together. Fr Pietro came to say Mass. Dan read the kids a chapter from the magician’s nephew and then we watched some cartoons together. Sometimes we forget we are in the hospital and it feels like we are in our living room.

Day 4

Dan had a rough night. He spiked a fever, had a chest xray (routine when you have a fever), a CT scan of his sinuses; multiple people came in and out during the night. The lining of his stomach, mouth, throat are injured from the radiation. He has not been able to eat much at all. He also still has a sinus infection so a squad of ENT physicians came in and shoved probes up his nose and swabbed it to check for infection. Dan's nurses are trying hard to manage his symptoms.

Days 1, 2, 3

Dan is doing ok. His white blood cells count has dropped as it was expected. Today he had the first day of two of chemotherapy. This is standard to decrease his chances of rejection. He lost his appetite and he’s receiving antibiotics for a couple of infections which are not great but nothing to freak out about. He continues to receive daily visits from friends from near and far. Fr José said his usual 15 minute Mass in Dan’s room. Dan is now neutropenic so he cannot have any sick visitors or visitors with sick contacts.

Day 0 - transplant day

We are waiting for the transplant. It will probably happen sometime around 7pm.

Here is Dan on his new birthday. The infusion will last about one hour. 

Update: the transplant is all done! It went well!! Happy birthday Dan.