Copy of email from Wes
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Update
Although son John wrote an update yesterday to the website "blog", I'll add to it since I'm home for an extended weekend, waiting for the telephone call from the nurse coordinator at the University-Fairview Hospital in Minneapolis (soon) to tell me when to return there for my bone-marrow transplant.

A week ago my twin brother Warren & I drove to the Twin Cities for the preliminary tests scheduled for him on Monday, Jan. 29, & for me the remainder of the week. Warren returned to Fargo Monday night & I came here with son John & his 3 daughters Friday evening, following a two-hour consultation with my "workup" doctor, Dr. Majhail, a hematologist at the University hospital. As John's "blog" reports, all those necessary test results were satisfactory, except for some heart damage, which the doctor thought minimal enough to warrant going ahead with the transplantation procedures. It's referred to as BMT, & there is a backlog of patients waiting, so I was sent home & will know which day I'll need to report back, sometime this coming week, according to my nurse.

On day #1 I will receive the Hickman catheter inserted into my right shoulder, followed by 5 days of chemotherapy & other (facilitating) drugs, followed by full-body radiation. Day 7 is the day of transfusion, giving me stem cells from my brother Warren, which I discovered is actually DAY #1 of the 100-day countdown, NOT beginning on discharge day. I will be hospitalized for approximately 4 weeks, depending on my recovery time, the success of the transplant, etc., but with a suppressed immune system & isolation in my room will be a part of my stay in the hospital.

I was told the telephone # I'd given you all earlier may not be very direct to the floor, so until I know more, calls to the nurse's station are discouraged, &
you'll have to call my siblings at the telephone numbers I'd given you on January 22, okay? My cell-phone is NOT allowed within the hospital, & plants or flowers aren't allowed, due to mold, etc. I'll be encouraged to walk (treadmill or in halls), bike on a stationary bike, eat regular but small amounts of food & drink plenty of fluids during my hospital stay. Visitors are welcome, but restricted (3 at a time) to those who are well, & children not allowed under a certain age. Washing ones hands before entering the room is required, & I might have to wear a mask at times? I'll use my laptop to receive messages more than to send them, so this may be my last update until sons John and/or Joel send updates again?

It is a scary time for me, but I'm hopeful & thankful for the option of renewed health soon, & a life ahead that is free of cancer.

Thank you for caring concern, & prayers for me!

Wes