Transplant successful - the road to recovery

Sorry it's been so long since my last update. While everything is right on plan, the fatigue and side effects have made it difficult to post. Getting to the hotel has been nice. Starting to feel like my home away from home.

What they call your second birthday (July 3rd) was exciting. I received my new stem cells. Took just a few hours to infuse the new cells, but emotional it marked a milestone that we have been looking forward to for 7 months! The doctor was real excited about the quality of my new cells. They are rated in 3 categories; 3+ being good, 4+ being excellent, and 5+ being outstanding. My donor cells rated a 5.1, something they say is the gold standard of donated blood. Side effects during the transplant were minimal. I thank God for for having such a good donor as well as all of you who continue to pray for my health. This transplant has been very humbling. I am totally relying of forces outside of my control and praying for God and the faith and prayers of all to make this a complete success. I need to remind myself that it is his will and not mine be done.

I'm finding I'm getting weaker by the day. They say this will continue for about 2 weeks until the new stem cells start producing new blood cells. They tell me it takes about 3 months for the new cells to completely replace my current cells. I will then be converted from my current type O positive to my new type B positive.

I'm met some really nice people who are also in the process of either getting or already having got their transplant. I go almost every day the hospital to what they call the ITA room, (infusion treatment area) where they check your blood levels, give you blood, platelets, or any other needed medication. When you see 20 year olds going through the same thing during the prime of their life it keeps things in perspective. I was sitting next to a lady in her mid 20's, married with 2 small children and needing a transplant to live. Her bone marrow stop producing any blood cells and without a successful transplant, she will not live. Her sister is a perfect match so things looks good. Her husband left for a few minutes and came back with a T-shirt with the insignia of "CA Department of Corrections" and gave it to me. Very cool, and shows how quickly you can make friends with those who share your same condition.

Sheila just put on some cool funky music, so I'm going to do some dancing and jump start these new cells. Rock on.....peace......