Consult #2

   Alrighty... so I went to Roswell yesterday to see Dr McCarthy (who is awesome I must say).  After reviewing my most recent PET scan we decided to go ahead with the transplant even though I'm not in complete remission.  And I'm ok with that.  I have a couple of weeks before I start the prep for stem cell collection, which is nice since I'm feeling pretty much back to normal.

   So here's how it will go for the most part... I'll start on March 20th with Neupogen injections to help stimulate my bone marrow to produce stem cells (Yay! more shots... as if the Lovenox twice a day isn't enough!  lol).  I will get these shots for 5 days in a row.  The last 2 days I will get a second injection of a drug called Mozibil which will help push out the stem cells into my blood so they are easier to collect.  On the fifth day they will start collecting my stem cells.  They basically hook me up to a machine that will pull out all my blood, run it through a centrifuge to pull out the stem cells, and then pump my blood back into me.  It works like dialysis.  Oh yeah, and they are going to take this blasted PICC line out of my arm and put a central line in my chest for the procedure.  I've been told that each day will take 4-5 hours, and that they usually do at least 2 days, but up to four (they need a minimum of 2 million cells).  The freeze everything until I'm ready for them to be re-introduced to my bloodstream.  Then I've got another meeting with my doctor, and an informational group meeting for the family that will talk about the process and aftercare for me.  Oh yeah, and they are going to run a stupid amount of blood work and tests on me while I'm there.  I have to get a dental exam, an echocardiogram, a pulmonary function test, a bone density scan and I'm sure there's something else I'm forgetting.  I had chest x-rays, an EKG, and blood work done yesterday.  And I mean blood work.  The nurse came in with a bottle of water and 3 cups of juice before she started to take my blood... she looked at me and said, drink up... I have to take a lot, don't want you passing out.  And she wasn't kidding.  She came back in with 16 tubes to fill up!

   About 2 weeks after collection, I'll be admitted to the hospital the night before treatment.  Then they'll start the high dose chemo (I'm not getting BEAM which is the more common treatment) that will take about 1 week I believe.  The regimen I'll be getting is called CBV.  After I'm done with the chemo, they'll give me back all my stem cells and I'll start the very slow (and very not fun sounding) recovery process.  They've told me to expect to be in the hospital for about a month.  After they discharge me, I have to stay in the transplant house by the hospital until they release me (up to 2 weeks but no longer).  Then I'll be on a maintenance drug called Brentuximab Vedotin after treatment (along with antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals and steroids).  It works kind of like Tamoxifen for breast cancer patients.  So, needless to say... I'm not looking forward to this.  But I'm ready to get it done and over with so I can try to return to some sense of normalcy.  :)