"If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster." - Clint Eastwood
Following is Elise's updated schedule as we know it today. But as we say at work, a schedule is something to deviate from. Becky has picked up a head cold (not surprising given all the people we've been around) and Elise and I are doing what we can to avoid getting it, but past experience would indicate that's a pretty futile effort. If she/we can't stay healthy there's the chance this will all be delayed more. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but I think we're all ready to move forward.
Behind us:
18 May: Return to NIH
19-23 May: Lots of tests and consults
23 May: first night in the Rockville apartment
25-28 May: unplanned pleasure trip to NYC
29 May: 24 hour urine collecton
30 May: blood test, 24 hour urine collection, etc
Still ahead:
4 June: hospital inpatient admission (we should also know today if the donation went as planned)
5 June: Hickman catheter placement and bone marrow sample (ouch)
6 June: catheter "care & feeding" class
8 June (D-12): Palifermin dose - helps reduce mouth sores
9 June (D-11): Palifermin dose
10 June (D-10): Palifermin dose, radiation simulation (?)
11 June (D-9): Campath dose - it's a chemotherapy agent used to deplete T-cells in prep for transplant
12 June (D-8): Campath dose
13 June (D-7): Campath dose
14 June (D-6): Campath dose (my 52nd birhday)
15 June (D-5): Campath dose
16 June (D-4): Busulfan dose - it's a chemotherapy agent used to lower the white blood cell count
17 June (D-3): Busulfan dose
18 June (D-2): 2 doses (morning and afternoon session) of total body irradiation
19 June (D-1): "Rest", echocardiogram, 24 hr Holter heart monitor recording
20 June (D0): Cell infusion (i.e. the stem cell transplant)
21-23 June (D1-3): more Paliferiman doses (this period is supposed to be really uncomfortable)
24 June - 3 July (D4-13): waiting for stem cells to engraft, and treating whatever pops up - this is a very risky period
4 July (D14): DHR/chimerism test to see if cells are starting to engraft (Independence Day)
5-14 July (D15-23): more waiting and treating whatever pops up
15 July (D24): DHR/chimerism test to check engraftment process
21 July (D30): this is the earliest Elise could be released from the hospital
5 Aug (D45): if things have gone well Elise should be release from the hospital by now and we'll be living in our apartment in Rockville
6 Aug - late-Sept (D100): lots of trips to the hospital for tests, transfusions, maybe some rehospitalization if things flare up, and also school tutoring.
If all goes well then we'll be able to come home after D100.
We've been making various sightseeing excursions. We hit a few of the museums on Saturday and the Washington Folk Festival at Echo Park yesterday. Not sure what we'll work into the next couple of days given Becky's head cold (which can be pretty miserable), but I'm sure we'll do some more fun stuff.
Did Becky get her infamous cough with the cold? It sounds like Elise if faring better than Becky at this point. Glad you decided to throw a B-Day in the schedule to break things up. : ]
ReplyDeleteActually the cough seems different than usual. It kicked in immediately and seems to be deeper. She hasn't had a fever so it's likely not MERS, H1N1 or the plague but it means she can't go to the hospital with Elise until it clears up. Elise and I are popping Zicam and treating Becky like a leper, so hopefully we'll avoid it.
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