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!