Today's Consult at the BMT Unit

We had a consult today at the BMT Unit with Dr. Ford and Ryan's coordinator, LaDee. First off traveling from Cedar Hills to downtown Salt Lake City was a bit of a nightmare today. From the Point of the Mtn., north, to downtown on I-15 was a 40mph drive because of snow and ice-packed roads. We took the Jeep on purpose in case we needed the 4-wheel drive which we did once we hit the downtown area. Not fun! Now to the consult, we didn't really learn much new like we thought we would. They just went through stuff we already know and to sign the consent forms. We did learn that the result of this chemo round is Ryan is now officially in remission which is what they want going in to the next phase. I'm sure you're wondering if he is in remission then why the BMT? It's simply because the cancer and tumors will come back and history has shown this. So, tomorrow the shots begin that stimulate his bone marrow stem cells to flood the bloodstream. A nurse will come to our home twice a day at 8 and 8 for the next few days. Starting Tuesday we will take him to the BMT Unit each morning to have the stem cell levels tested then harvested when they are at they're peak, probably next Thursday or Friday. He will most likely be admitted to the hospital on Jan. 5th or 6th and will be there for nearly a month. The shots that he will be given will make his bones ache and we have pain pills for that. We will also need to watch closely for any adverse conditions. 1 in 3 patients get a fever and if this happens he will need to be admitted right away for treatment. Fun stuff ahead but Ryan's tuff and we'll get through!
Steve