So what's new?

Everyone has been wondering, what's new in Dad's world. Well, not much! After his bypass, he recovered, probably a little slower than he was expecting. He did lose some weight, but his energy and appetite returned back to normal. We are now 8 weeks since his last chemo and Dr. Kazhdan is getting a little nervous. He still goes for his monthly bone medication. But now Dad won't have his stem cell transplant until April. So in the meantime, Dad will have partial therapy to make sure we have the myeloma in check. Dr. K also wants him to be rid of his security blanket--the walker. Dad is able to walk well enough on his own that he just need to use a cane for support. So being the model patient, he is following Doctor's orders and is trying to rid himself of the walker. Dad spends his days to and from work with the occasional Dr's visit thrown in the mix. There are still a few tests and procedures we need to get done before he has his transplant. One of them will be having a special port placed so they can harvest his stem cells. This is a quick procedure, just like his medport they placed for his chemo. It was over by the time dad asked if they were going to start soon. The actual transplant itself will involve some blood filtering, like he's giving blood. They will collect all the stem cells, give him back his blood. Then he gets heavy chemo and they give him his stem cells back. We are all anxious to have this chapter of our lives over. Once the transplant is done, it will be a 100 day count to determine if he is fully in remission. This will put us in August, one year exactly from his diagnosis with myeloma.

It is so strange to think it will be a year, one that Dad doesn't want to repeat. But we have been so thankful for all the prayers and support.