Today is Tuesday, the day I was originally scheduled to begin stem cell collection. I went in for labs yesterday AM on the way to the office. The clinic called me back 2 hours later to advise that I was "ripe" and to get back in ASAP to begin collection. My bone marrow was producing way more WBC than they thought I guess. I started a day early. My WBC count yesterday was 27,500. The high end of normal is 10,000. They were able to collect 3,380,000 cells yesterday and 3,020,000 today. This gets me over the 5M mark which is what they shoot for prior to a transplant. They'll accept 2M as a minimum. My bones were aching for a damn reason I guess. Pumping out some cells. I am soooo happy this only took a couple of days and it is finished early. I am over taking those shots twice a day.
From here, I will have the rest of the week off before getting another round of chemo on Monday. I'll have a blood draw between now and then as well, but that is just routine. Hope to see some of you around this week/weekend in between my naps and feedings.
Today's Pic: Our friend Wendy snapped a pic of Hayes Street for us in San Fran.
Hey Jeff-thanks so much for keeping us updated... it is really helpful to know what you're going through and helps us feel a part of it. I check this blog every day, and I'm specifically praying for you and whatever next step you're in. Keep fighting! We love you. God bless,
Tamara(and Justin and the kiddies too)
Posted by: Tamara Baker | June 04, 2008 at 05:59 AM
Cot damn bro! Keep knocking those mf'ers down. Looking to hook up. We love ya on the old side. See you soon.
Posted by: teddy novack | June 08, 2008 at 05:51 PM
Melissa and Jeff, you guys are the best! Just checking in after a weekend in the N. GA mtns...there is a CRAZY steep road going down and up through a little "holler" to my folks' mountain house and in your honor I usually run down/up one time, then back again, and most of the year I swear, swear, swear that I complete this path (maybe a total distance of 500m, but at an 80 degree angle?) 10 times in less than 30 min. Yesterday in the _$@# humidity I only managed 6x before collapsing @ 20 min total. And Jeff, at the top of the steaming hill I thought of you dealing with the next round of chemo or stem cell harvest or whatever, and the angel on my shoulder said, 'dammit Lauren, you can finish the 10-round-drill for Jeff--given everything HE's going through,' and then the devil on my shoulder thought, 'NO, I'm gonna WUSS OUT and crawl back to the gym with great humility and insist that Jeff get well soon so he can kick my lazy butt!'
I'm not sure that this is especially motivating, but it's 100% true. After that I went inside the house and drank ice water and ate more French toast than any gal has a right to.
So Jeff...get well soon! PLEASE!
Big hugs from Lauren, Art, Harper, Crispin, and Amelia
Posted by: LaurenW | June 08, 2008 at 08:14 PM