GOOD NEWS!!

So I got some amazing news last week! I had my PET/CT scan the week before, and felt pretty good about it. This is the first scan I've had since having the heavy chemo and the transplant and everything, so we were all anxious to find out if it was a success. I hadn't been feeling any pains or feeling sick ever, so like I said, I felt pretty good about it, but still a tad nervous.

The results couldn't have been better! There was no sign of cancerous lymph nodes in my body! There were 2 nodes still larger than normal, but they said this is usually just scar tissue and happens to most Hodgekin's patients. I'll have another scan in December just to be sure. They don't like to use the word "cured" until about 5 years of clean scans she said, so technically you would say I am in remission.

It's kind of a weird feeling! I've had this for so long, almost 2 years now, that I kinda don't know what to do with myself! I feel like I should be running and shouting joy all over town, but I'd probably run a few steps and be too tired to go any farther! So I still have a little ways to go before I'm back to 100%, but I'm getting there. It does feel very good to think that the future is wide open, I can do anything now that I don't have the worry that I may have treatments coming up soon and would have to cancel big plans. It's a little overwhelming, so I actually haven't made any solid big plans yet!! I do plan on getting back to school next January, but that's about the only thing.

I'd love a fun vacation somewhere while there is still a bit of summer left. I'd love to still have some time to finish up some little projects I'm working on here and there before "real life" starts again with a job and school. I'd love to have a girlfriend to celebrate this all with!! ;)

So we will see how things go! Next week I have to go back up to LDS hospital to do a few little tests. Heart and lung stuff and blood work, just to make sure there isn't anything weird going on after the transplant. Shouldn't be too bad at all.

Guess that's about it for now! We'll see how often I update this blog. Perhaps now I'll move on to just random things that aren't really about my journey with cancer. Not sure yet!

Quick Update

Just a quickie. Wanted to show how my hair is coming along, since I am thankful to have it back! It's very nice, and it's sooooo soft! I think this is because it is brand new hair, like a babies, only thicker! It is great.

1 Week of Radiation & Some Hair

So my hair is starting to come back! It'd be nice if it was growing a little faster, but oh well. I also haven't shaved all week, just for fun and to enjoy having hair, but I'll probably shave it off before church tomorrow. On Tuesday I started radiation close here at the American Fork clinic. It's nice not to have to go up to Salt Lake anymore! Radiation hasn't been bad at all, it's quick each day ea and so far I haven't noticed any side effects. Maybe I'm a little more tired but not a whole lot. Each day I go in and lie on a table that moves me under a machine. There are laser lights that come out of the ceiling and walls so they can line my body up in the same spot each day. The lights line up with marks made with permanent markers on my chest and sides. Then the machine shoots concentrated x-rays into me from two different angles and then I'm done. I'm usually in and out of the place in less than ten minutes. I'll do this every weekday for about a month; it'll be 20 treatment times total. They say it might give me a sore throat in the latter weeks, but so far I've felt fine.

It's also been really nice lately to be able to get out of the house more! I've been able to hang out with my friends a lot more lately and go to church on Sundays too. I wanna go see a movie soon also. Nothing in particular, I just haven't been to a movie theater in a long time! I know in May there are a bunch of movies I'm really looking forward to, but I'm not sure if there is anything good out now or during April... I'll have to check!

Exiting from LDS Hospital

Today was my exit consultation with the doctor and nurses at LDS hospital. From now on I'll just have to drive a few blocks to American Fork hospital instead of the 45 minutes to get up to Salt Lake! It'll be so much nicer. Things are looking good blood wise, all my counts are continuing to rise, though still a bit slower than we'd like. They also took out my Hickman line that was in my chest. It's kinda weird not to have odd foreign objects protruding from my chest anymore! I had my old port in since September 2007 I think, and this new one was placed the same day they removed the old. That does mean that from now when they do any blood work they will have to poke a vein the old fasioned way. No big deal though.

We also met with a radiation oncologist up there who says it'd be best to have spot radiation treatments on the one spot near my esophogas that was the last to show any cancerous activity. I meet next week with the radiation oncologist down here in AF to schedule all that, but it shouldn't be too big of a deal. Last year when I had radiation it wasn't bad at all, just kinda made me tired but that was it. No other side effects. This is just to be absolutely sure the cancer won't return, so it's fine by me if we go ahead with it!

Again I just wanna say thanks to everyone for your prayers and well-wishes, visits and phone calls, online conversations and blog comments!! You guys have all been so great in helping me and my family get through all this! THANK YOU!

It's Been Awhile....

Yes, it's been awhile since we've posted any new updates. Looking at it from a positive side, no new posts for a couple of weeks must mean everything is good, right? That has beent he case here for the most part. Ryan has been enjoying being back home after his 3 week stay at the BMT Unit. He can eat when he wants and what he wants. He can sleep when he wants and doesn't get woke up at 4:00am every morning for blood work and, most importantly, he has many more satellite TV channels to choose from! We still have to take him back to the hospital about every 3 days or so for blood work and vitals. He's had to have platelets a couple of times and his white blood counts haven't been rising like they should. His white count has been hovering around 2,000. A normal count is between 4,200 and just below 11,000, so that's a bit worrisome. His greatest risk right now is infection. We are trying to keep the house sterilized and clean but it's not always an easy thing to do. He's done an almost feinting thing a couple of times recently but hasn't quite hit the floor in a stupor! We are still greatful that he's come through in relatively good shape and that the prognosis is good. When we were at the BMT Unit last week, a young couple came in with a newborn baby. The husband has non-hodgkins lymphoma. We asked about their situation. Their baby is 3 months old and they've been married just a short time. He was diagnosed in December. They looked too young to be married and with a baby let alone to have to go through something like this too. Sad! We also found out this week that the wife of some very good friends of ours has liver cancer. They were in our last ward and have kids the same age as ours and always hung out together. Their one boy is on his mission in California and just passed his one year mark. A couple of summers ago, they invited us to spend a few days with them at their family ranch in Wyoming where we got to go horseback riding and just hang out. Judy made us the best swedish pancakes I've ever had (sorry Grandma Adams!). Our hearts ache for them and our prayers are with them.

FREEDOM!

This is my excited face.

Today I was released from the hospital! I just barely got home and thought I better hurry and post the good news before anyone else decides to come visit me and finds and empty room! My aunt Nola just barely made it in before I was discharged, and another friend was going to come this afternoon before I text him that I was going home!

It feels really good to be home. I'm so glad things went so well the entire time I was in the hospital and I was able to be released so soon. The nurse said that most patients are feeling pretty lousy even when they are discharged, so again I feel very blessed to be doing so well! I have to be careful for the next few weeks still, with my diet and avoiding crowds and sick people. I have to wear the mask each time I go back up to the hospital for check ups and such, and if I'm in public places. I think I'll just mostly stay home to avoid any risks anyway. At least I am home though, and don't have to be woken up at 4 AM every day to have my blood drawn, amongst other annoyances of hospital life!

BMT Unit Photo's and Update

On the temporary construction wall above the nurses desk.

Playing with the fish-eye ceiling mirror.

On the temporary construction wall.

Ryan drew this!

Ryan's isolated room is through those doors.

We went for a walk down the hall with Ryan tonight so I snapped a few new photo's. The hospital is doing some remodeling on the BMT Unit floor so they have some temporary walls up which the nurses encourage everyone to draw on. There are markers at the nurses desk so we drew some stuff and had fun reading what others had written.
Good news for the day- the oncologist told Ryan he will probably get to go home this coming Monday or Tuesday! His white blood count is still really low but is starting to at least show some counts and the doctor said he's doing so good that he should be ready to leave by then. We, and Ryan, are so excited! This Tuesday it will be three weeks that he will have been in here. He is so ready to leave!

Almost no eyebrows

As you can see, my eyebrows and eyelashes have just about all fallen out. When I had chemo last year I didn't lose them, so this is a new experience for me. It's not really too much of a bad thing, it's just weird to look in the mirror and see nothing there!

Things have been pretty good the last few days with nothing new to report health wise really. They did give me some platelets yesterday morning but today my blood counts were high enough to just barely pass without having to get any transfusions. A nurse told me that my blood counts will probably fluctuate up and down a little bit while they are at this low point of the treatment, so I might have to have some transfusions still later on this week. Hopefully though they will just start to rise soon and I can get outta here! Things have pretty much gone as well as they can possibly go while being in here, I've been really blessed! I just am really hoping that the trend continues and I quickly reach the point where I am released to my freedom! Is my boredom showing yet? Haha, I shouldn't complain though since things have been so good!

Misc. Stuff

Ryan's Grandmother Winters trying to keep the transplant smell at bay!

Ryan's dad, Steve and brother, Spencer

This is what Ryan has to wear if he leaves his clean, air-filtered hospital room.

Marcia and I visited Ryan last night and he is looking and feeling very good. He said he got sick in the night but it didn't last long. His biggest problem now is BOREDOM! He can't really leave his room other than to walk a limited way down the hall for exercise and he has to gown-up (see above photo) so it's kind of a pain. He watches TV, DVD's, reads, surfs the net, plays computer games and sleeps. So, if anyone has any suggestions on how to fight hospital boredom please post here! He has another 2 weeks (at least) to go.
Some good news is that he DOESN'T STINK anymore! The bone marrow stem-cell preservative smelled like creamed corn and seeped out of his pores for a day or two. It made me a bit nauseous but didn't affect Marcia at all. So, now he's fine.
OK, I posted a photo of me. It was pointed out by a couple of people that I haven't been in any of the photo's so far. It's because I'm taking them and I figured the blog would be the worse for it but there you go anyway!
Steve

After the Transplant

So it's been a couple of days now since I had the transplant, and things are still going good! I kind of don't know what to write about today because things have been so uneventful! That is a good thing though here in the hospital! Well, I shouldn't say it's been completely uneventful, last night I did get feeling a little nauseous in the middle of the night but it went away quick and I was able to get back to sleep. So nothing too major. It's also been fun having visitors, I really wanna thank everyone who's come hung out with me for a bit and kept me company! Maybe those who've experienced long hospital stays can relate, but it really is good to see people, even if just for a few minutes! So thank you!

Day -0 BIRTHDAY!!!

Nurses Ben and Mahmoud checking the cryo-tank temperature. It's at a chilly -286 degrees BELOW ZERO!

The stem-cells being lifted out of the cryo-tank.

Nurse Ben hanging the thawed-out stem-cell mixture from the IV stand

I thought the color contrast was cool- that's blood on the left and the stem-cell mix on the right.

That's all there is to it!

Birthday Presents #1

Birthday Presents #2

Well, today was the big day! All went very good with no ill side effects so far. They started the bone-marrow stem-cell infusion at about 2:00pm and it took nearly an hour. The stem-cells were brought up in a big cryo-tank that looked like a garbage can. The cryo nurse took out 3 of the 6 bags of cells for transplant and thawed them out, one at a time, just in room temperature water. The cells were still cold (and a bit slushy) when infused. The bags of cells were just administered through his IV system. A bone marrow transplant sounds so scary but it's really just a glorified IV bag! The stem-cell preservative has a bit of a nauseating smell to it. It smells like creamed corn. The nurse brought us in some lemon slices to hold under our noses- it really did help. Ryan's grandparents also came for the event. We had a 'birthday' party afterward with presents and ice-cream sandwiches! Ryan has done amazingly well to this point. His attitude has been so positive. We are grateful for the many prayers that have been answered! Next for him is just hanging out in his hospital cleanroom for the next 2-3 weeks until the transplanted stem-cells take hold and start producing white blood cells again. It's amazing to me that the stem-cells know right where to go and what to do once they get there. Wonderful and amazing!
Just an FYI, you can click on each photo to get a bigger size image.
Steve

Day -1

So today was just kind of a day of rest, no chemo and then tomorrow is the transplant. It was a pretty good day, had some fun visits from Shaun and Dustin, my good friends from high school, and then tonight my friend Tami, also from high school, came up for a bit. It was just just hanging out and there was just lots of joking around and laughter and catching up. I really enjoyed it. They all mentioned though that it is a little hard to find my room. They all found the 8th floor all right, haha, but once you get up here I guess it's a little tricky. Again, my room is 848, but to get to it you have to go through a set of double doors, which are down the hall to the left of the main nurses station. The doors kind of make it look like it's some off limits place to the public/visitors but we promise it's not! Just head through those doors and then my room is on the right. I'm here all day every day, so feel free to drop by! Hehehe.

Day -2

Guess I better take a turn writing since I haven't lately! Sometimes I just feel that it's the same old things happening here so I figure I don't have anything too exciting to write about! Though that is probably not the case. Today is my last day of chemo! That feels pretty weird to say and/or even think about! Especially when I thought the chemo here in the hospital would be A TON worse than what it has been. I had honestly pictured myself throwing up every second and needing someone here helping me into the bathroom all the time or whatever. Thankfully I've been able to stay very independent! I really haven't been sick at all, just a few times throwing up those first 2 days but even then it was like I'd throw up and then feel fine again right after. I've devoured all the hospital food pretty much, they've all been tasty good meals. The only think I've kinda slacked off on I guess is getting out of the room and going on walks. It's a little harder since there is construction going on on this floor and also the anti-nausea pills I take (which obviously do their job VERY well) kinda knock me out and make me sleepy. So I've only been on a walk just a couple of times I think. Hopefully I can do it more once the chemo is over later today.

Tomorrow I will have just a day of "rest" so to speak, no chemo or anything. Not really sure what else will happen this day, if there are any preparatory drugs for the transplant on Tuesday or what. Talking with one of the nurses last night she said the transfusion of stem cells usually is only around an hour also, so Tuesday might also be a pretty easy going day. Then I just get to sit around for a few weeks, hoping there are no complications with the transplant and hoping I don't get an infection from anywhere as my blood counts will be plummeting!

I feel really blessed knowing that there are so many prayers being said on my behalf and that they are obviously working to have been doing and feeling so well! I cannot thank everyone enough! It's a huge comfort hearing about and feeling of all your love and support. THANK YOU!!

Day -3

We talked to Ryan this evening via online video. I had a co-worker help me set it up yesterday. He looked great and is still feeling good. He said the oncologist visited him today and said how amazed they all are at how well he is doing so far. The oncologist said it's been smooth sailing so the rest looks good. Ryan showed us the mylar balloons Kent and Christine had sent to his room- he was very grateful! He needed something to brighten up the dull, sterile room. Anyway if any of our out-of-state relatives (or anyone for that matter) want to take advantage of a video chat with Ryan, he is set up on www.oovoo.com. It's free but you'll need a video camera/microphone/computer setup. Oovoo is similar to Skype for those familiar with that service. You'll need to call him on his cell phone to arrange a time. Call or email us to get his number. I'm sure he'd love to video chat!

Day -4

We visited Ryan Friday night along with our friends, Mike and Crystal Davies. We didn't get to the hospital until 8:30pm or so. We weren't worried about him being asleep as they haven't been starting evening chemo until 10:00pm or so. The chemo drip takes about an hour, so Ryan is up late. Sunday is a different chemo drug and then Monday he gets to 'rest' as in done with chemo! Ryan still looks good and feels relatively well and he's only thrown up a couple of times. They cut back on his hydration drip (potassium chloride) finally so Ryan won't have to keep going to the bathroom every half-hour! Kind of a pain for him as he has to haul the IV stand with him everywhere, even in the bathroom. Marcia and I may not make it up today as the house has been neglected for a while...we need to get caught up! We know others are going to visit today. If you do visit just remember to wash your hands just before entering (there is a sink just outside his door) and use the hand sanitizer.
The first photo is a picture of Ryan's bed extension. Good thing he was able to score one of those! It would be very uncomfortable otherwise!

Day -5

Ryan is still doing pretty good today. He had chemo again this morning and slept a lot this afternoon. We brought our other kids up this evening to visit since they haven't been here yet. Marcia and Lindsay have slight throat tickles, hence the masks. Ryan had to have 2 bags of red blood today because his counts were low. He looks more weary today but he insists he feels pretty good. He feels bad that he missed our Home Teacher's visit, Bro. Mitchell, but he was asleep.

Day -6

Marcia and I just arrived at the hospital to be with Ryan for the evening. We'll probably watch American Idol with him.
Ryan had a good night last night. We left him around 8:00pm. He was still receiving the chemo drip but we were exhausted and it was going to be another couple of hours. Ryan said he only threw up once, right after chemo was done. The nurse woke him up a couple of times during the night to do vitals but he went right back to sleep after. He hasn't felt any ill effects from last night's chemo like they said he would- no headaches, alcohol buzz or hangover. Another small miracle! He had a different chemo drug this morning and he's been fine all day. Now we're just waiting for the evening chemo that could be here any time now. So, he just read a lot today and watched some TV. He's already missing the DishNetwork DVR from home and the on-screen programming guide!

Day -7

Me and mom in the new room.

So today is the first day of my hospital stay! I am just barely getting settled in, but really it didn't take me long to unpack since I didn't have too much stuff. The room has 1 window facing the east mountains, towards the U of U, and a small bathroom. There's a TV and DVD player too to keep me occupied as well. Right now they've got me on some fluids as they want to keep me hydrated really well for chemo, which they'll bring in later this afternoon I am told. I guess this first chemo drug they are doing today also has a lot of alcohol in it, so it might make me feel pretty weird! The nurse yesterday said some people like the feeling at first but then they get hangover like symptoms after! So that'll be an interesting experience for me since I've never drank! Kinda funny, as my mom said, to be admitted to the hospital when I'm feeling so good! I'm sure that'll quickly change though.

Bloggin' it up.

EDIT:
They moved me into a different room just now. This one has a better filtration system or something, newer I guess. And there's a nice big comfy recliner next to my bed for visitors.

Speaking of visitors, my room is east 848. Just make sure you wash your hands before you come in or I might get angry!! Oh, just kidding!

Admitted Tomorrow

Well, Ryan will be admitted tomorrow morning, Tues.,Jan. 13th. His pneumonia is gone so the next phase can begin. Today we met with the oncologist the nutritionist and the pharmacist. We spent a good deal of time with the oncologist going over last-minute details. We learned that tomorrow is called '-7 Day' leading up to day '0' which is transplant day. His chemo regimen is called BEAM, with each letter standing for a particular chemo drug.
Here's the schedule:

Tue. -7 Day: BCNU
Wed. -6 Day: VP-16 & Ara-C
Thur. -5 Day: VP-16 & Ara-C
Fri. -4 Day: VP-16 & Ara-C
Sat. -3 Day: VP-16 & Ara-C
Sun. -2 Day: Melphalan
Mon. -1 Day: Rest
Tue. 0 Day: Progenitor Cell Infusion

The first day, -7 Day, is supposed to be the worst, as this chemo drug is nasty! The '0 Day' they consider his 'New Birthday' as he will, cell wise, be re-born. They suggest it be celebrated for the rest of his life. One thing they mentioned today is that all his cell 'memory' will be wiped clean. His body will have forgotten all his childhood innoculations. So, a year from now, he will need to be vaccinated with everything all over again like measles and chicken-pox.
We are calm going into all of this and feel at peace knowing he is in the hands of the Lord. We marvel at the small miracles we have seen along the way like his pneumonia being completely gone today and how many bone-marrow stem-cells they were able to collect in one day. They told us today how very, very rare that was to get so many when it should have taken 3-4 days. There have been many, many more and we contribute it to the many prayers that are being offered in his behalf and we thank you all for it.

Posting a Response

We’ve heard from some of you that you have been unable to post responses on Ryan’s blog. It is a little confusing so I will try to walk you through the process. First off you’ll need to create a google user ID and password. To do this, on the upper right side of Ryan’s blog, click on ‘Sign In’, then, WITHOUT entering anything into the ‘Username” or ‘Password’ fields, click on the blue ‘Sign In’ button. From there, click on the blue words ‘Create an account now’. Create your account. You can make it as detailed as you wish including posting a photo of yourself (or not). After you have created your username and password you are now ready to post. At the bottom or end of each blog are the words ‘Comments’ preceded with the number of comments made. Click on the ‘Comments’ word. Type your message in the ‘Post a Comment’ box then in the drop-down field where it says ‘Select a Profile’, choose ‘Google Account’, then click the ‘Post Comment’ button. If you haven’t already signed in, it will ask you to at that point with your new google user ID and password. From there it should be simple to follow. If you still have problems, email me and I’ll help. If it still keeps being a problem, we may need to look at creating a page on a different blog-site. Thanks everyone!

The Coming Week

Another chest x-ray on Thursday revealed that Ryan does have mild pneumonia. Hopefully the new antibiotic will kick it. So, scheduled for this coming week is a final consult on Monday with Ryan being admitted on Tuesday morning to begin the high-dose chemotherapy if the pneumonia is gone. From what we understand, the high-dose chemo will last for 6-7 days followed by 2-3 weeks of re-introducing his bone marrow stem-cells and getting his immune system back up to where he can live in the real world again. Visitors are welcome, but children are not allowed. You'll need to be free from illness, sniffles and coughs and will need to go through some cleaning protocols before entering his room. If you want to send well-wishes to his room (and I'm sure Ryan would love them!) send stuff that can be wiped down. Flowers and plants are not allowed nor are latex ballons. Mylar ballons are fine however. We're not sure about munchies yet. We do know that everything he takes 'in' is measured (and so is everything 'out'!). We also don't know what his room number will be other than he will be in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit on the 8th floor of LDS Hsopital. The fun begins!

A Day Off

So today is the first day in a week where I haven't had to be up at the hospital for anything! It feels pretty nice! I get to just hang out at home and play!

I need to recount the last few days excitement for everyone now. Monday I had the harvesting of stem cells done, and as you can see by my dad's photos in the previous post, I pretty much slept through the whole thing! So really it was not a big deal. The great news is that they were able to get enough cells that I didn't need to go back! I guess that's pretty rare for anyone to be able to collect that much in just one session.

That night, I was feeling pretty good, nothing different than how I've felt. I went to take my temperature and it was 102! We called the clinic and they said to watch it for a few hours and if it didn't go down to go to the emergency room. I really didn't want to have to go just because it usually takes so long there and it turns out to be nothing serious. Plus it was snowing WAY hard and being late at night the roads were very nasty. My temperature didn't drop, so we ended up braving the storm and going to the emergency room. They were actually really quick once we arrived and they did some blood tests and a chest x-ray as well. Turns out I had the beginnings of a pneumonia! This could be really dangerous to me especially because my body is so susceptible to infections and disease. So they gave me some super heavy antibiotics by IV and then we left... at 3 AM.

By morning my high temperature was gone and I felt pretty good. I had to go have that same antibiotic by IV given again at the local hospital, and then we headed up to LDS hospital for some more testing. They want to be sure the pneumonia isn't a serious concern, so we'll be watching it the next few days. As everything stands now, as long as the pneumonia issue resolves quickly, I'll be admitted on Tuesday for THE treatment. The high dose chemo and then the transplant. This last week felt so long, with trips every day to the hospital and blood or platelet transfusions every day as well, not to mention shots every morning and night... I'm kinda glad it's over and we can get the real show on the road! I have a feeling though the next few weeks will be a little tougher and longer feeling than this last one was!

Apheresis

Hooked up to the stem-cell collector machine (apheresis).

The blood circulating through the apheresis machine.

The collected bone-marrow stem-cells (and other stuff).

Today they collected the bone-marrow stem-cells. They need to collect between 5 and 10 million cells. Ryan's levels are up high enough (to a 30 today!) that they may be able to get enough with just today's visit but we won't know until later today. The Apheresis room looks like it's in a converted stock room but oh, well. It took about 4 hours and now they are giving him platelets again. He's a bit nauseous right now but not bad. All went very well. After they have enough I won't have to give him the injections anymore- yippee!

Latest-

Yesterday- Ryan and his good friend Heather.

Yesterday receiving platelets.

We'll we received some good news today. Marcia took Ryan to the BMT Unit this morning and after he received more platelets, they got the good news that the bone marrow stem cell count in his blood stream is now high enough to begin harvesting! Yesterday was the first day they've been able to get a count. The count has to be at least a 5 (I have no idea what the numbers mean or stand for) and yesterday it was only at a 1, but today the count was up to 13! Let the harvesting begin! So, tomorrow morning they'll hook him up to the dialysis-like machine and siphon them off. He'll have to do this for as many days as it takes to get enough to freeze, normally around 3-4. Each session takes about 4 hours.

OINK OINK

Here's some pics of the very cute "pig" mask I get to wear when I'm in public. This basically means I won't be going out in public for awhile unless I have to! But that has pretty much been the case anyway for the last few weeks.

...and more blood, platelets too!

So this week has pretty much been blood infusions or platelets or both, every day. Each day we are supposed to be at the BMT Unit at 7:30am (about a 45 minute drive from Cedar Hills) so they can check his bone marrow stem cell levels in the bloodstream. The problem has been that Ryan's blood count's have been so out of whack that they can't get a stem cell reading. The nurse keeps telling us this isn't uncommon for a patient this soon after chemo. The blood infusions usually take 3-4 hours. If he's just getting platelets it takes about 30 minutes. At least the cafeteria has OK food (but I'm sure it will get old fast) and the hospital has wireless internet access. I'm also able to work on some new advertising brochures for work so my time isn't going to waste. In the mean-time, I am still giving him 3 shots in the evening. I don't have to give him the injections in the morning as the hospital does it while we're here.
The hospital gave Ryan a 'pig mask' today. He'll have to post pictures of it but it's basically a respirator facemask that he needs to wear anytime he's not in his hospital room, our house or car. So anywhere there's a bunch of people, he'll need to be wearing it. If we go to a store or something, he'll look SCARY!

Steve