Trick or Treat

The staff at the Huntsman Center said this round of chemo would be worse than the first.  Man, they weren't kidding!  He waited by the door all day Sunday with treats, but no kids wanted anything to do with him. 

We've been back in Salt Lake since October 26.  Clancy had a PET scan, blood workup, bone marrow biopsy, EKG, and Echogram on the 27th.   Not all the test results are back, but the ones that were looked encouraging.  On the 28th, a different port was placed in his chest for blood draws and drug infusions.  This port is under the skin and will be in for about 6 months.  It will allow Clancy to shower freely and does not require the daily maintenance of the previous accesses.  He became spoiled for those 10 days he had no ports/tubes hanging out of him. 

Chemotherapy started up again on the 29th.  It takes about 3.5 hours for the two IV meds to be infused.  That will be done again on Monday, Nov 1.  There are two other oral drugs that are taken daily.  Chemo will stop mostly on Nov 1.  The medical staff says to expect to feel crummy from about Nov 1 through Nov 10.  The first stem cell transplant will occur on Tuesday, Nov 2!  It takes 10-14 days for the cells to engraft.    Engraftment is when the stem cells have been accepted and are doing their thing. Daily blood work will be done to track the progress.  The goal is to be back home for about two months beginning Nov 19.   Let's hope for success and better days ahead.

The protocol here calls for tandem transplants on younger patients.  Unbelievable, but Clancy is considered younger.  Anyway, the second transplant process will likely begin in January.  It will take approximately 8 weeks.  It may seem like a long way off, but Clancy hopes to be released back to full duty by April.

Overall, things are going well.  Clancy got in over five miles of strenuous hiking on the 29th and a couple short hikes over the weekend.  He can feel the chemo slowing him down and wants to take advantage of good days to keep the stamina up as best he can.  It was fun to catch the Griz game at Weber Saturday compliments of UM.  The final score wasn't what was desired.  As long as they won't let Clancy and cousin Billy coach, things will probably not improve soon.

Have a great week everyone.  I hope you find many things to make you laugh throughout the day.