Day 229 BMT Day 19

Hi Everyone!

I'm back out in Buffalo to give Dad a well deserved break. And by break I mean trying to cram a conference and 3 months of work into 4 days so he can get back to being Mom's errand boy. She's definitely making sure he's not bored.

Mom had to get her 5 lumen port replaced with a double lumen today. This will help reduce possible points of infection, so it was important... but not the easiest for Mom. Throughout this whole process she has rarely complained about anything but the pills. This whole lumen switching business was pretty uncomfortable for her so she's a little sore, but otherwise her spirits and her blood counts are both up!

She was in rare form tonight. I wish I could have video taped her conversation with her Nurse, Donna - Donna really brings out the hilarious in Mom. There is something about her that begs for Mom to tell her any random story she can think of. She's a really good sport. Mom is really fighting the "chemo brain". She's sharp as a tack but every once in a while she gets a hiccup that stops her train of thought in its tracks. She was very concerned earlier that she had Alzheimer's because she can't remember her favorite nurse's name (It's Pam, but it could be Jane or Agnes depending on Mom's mood). "At 59 years old! How could I possibly be getting this already?!" Out of all the things to stress about...

In the time I've been writing this blog, Mom has gotten Donna up to speed on her relationship with Dad and how much he's done for her (and how much she's done for him, of course), growing up with 9 siblings and the hardships they faced, how smart Dad is (that took a really long time), and she finished it up with all of the things she's noticed during her stay that could really use some improvement - manuals, for instance. There should be manuals about what to expect. Kind of like a "What to Expect When You Are Expecting - To be Treated for Leukemia... For Dummies?". Let's just throw all the books into one useful resource - that will be mine and Lisa's project when this is all over.

Anyway, word on 6 North Avenue is that Mom's going to be discharged from the hospital to the hotel on Wednesday. This will be day 21 since the Stem Cell Transplant. Patients typically have to stay for at least 30 days, so this is a pretty big deal and we are very excited. She'll still have to stay the entire remainder of the 100 days within 20 minutes of the facility, but at least she'll be in the hotel. The main nurse on the floor (Agnes?... no, no... Dr. Ron? Dr. Ran? - another hiccup I guess) gave Mom a gold star. Not literally... she just bestowed "gold star" status on her. We have found gold stars to be useful in motivating Mom. Hey, whatever works.

Keep your fingers crossed and keep the prayers coming, please!

Love,

Amy