We Have Dates

Kathy and Dave have been in touch with the Docs and have set up the appointments to get the stem cell transplant started. There is quiite a lot involved and Dave is in pretty good spirits about it.
So, this is the schedule that Kathy gave me today:
Today was his last Chemo treatment at LGH. They want him to have a 3 week resting period. Rest from Chemo, not doctors. For the next 3 weeks they will be taking a ton of tests for all different kinds of things. They need to be sure that his body can handle this. Once he is cleared based on the tests, the procedure will officially begin on August 24th, starting with a very high dose of Chemotherapy that will be administered at LGH with Dr. Anamur. It's called 'mobilization Cytoxan'. I didn't find much about it when I looked it up. He has the 25th off, and on the 26th (and for the next 8 days) he will be given Nupogen injections, which, from what I understand, is the medication that produces stem cells and tricks them into entering the blood stream for easier collection (this procedure is done when a healthy host is donating bone marrow to someone else.) So, he has Labor Day off and for the following 4 days (9/4,5,6,&7) he will need to be at Dana Farber every morning at 7 am for what they call the 'harvesting' of his own stem cells. The doc's will actually take upwards of 5 million stem cells (amazing!) Kathy and Dave are on a housing list with Dana Farber so that they don't have to drive in every day. The
'harvesting' takes about 4-6 hours each time. September 8th is another day of rest, and then he enters Brigham and Women's hospital on the 9th. September 10th and 11th, he will be given the 'close to lethal' amount of Chemo. His immune system will be as non-functional as it can be after this dose. And then on the 12th, the stem cells will be re-infused.
He will remain in the hospital, under watchful care, until September 26th. That is the current release date. It's at this point that Dave needs to be extremely careful. He cannot be exposed to any kind of germ, bacteria, etc. Kathy said that the whole house has to be disinfected, (which luckily her Mom has already started), and he cannot be in the same room when someone is vacuuming. He will have to wear a mask when he goes out for at least the first 3 months. His immune system will remain very fragile for at least a year, though.
His food will have to be carefully monitored also. It's about as complicated as it gets, but it will help to give Dave a better and longer life.
His brother, Ray, is coming in tonite from Atlanta. He plans to stay for a few weeks and Dave is looking forward to spending some quality time with him.
Well, that's the schedule. Please try to use the Guestbook to send your messages to Dave. It would be beneficial to him if we could help keep his spirits up.
Thanks for your happy thoughts!
Marilyn