Another quick update.  We went into the BMT Clinic today (December 22nd) to check Jeff's blood levels - absolute neutraphil count is: 5.1! Doctors are very pleased.  His central line will be removed Friday morning at 10:00 a.m.

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!  We love you all and are so grateful for your love, support and many prayers in our behalf.

We went to the BMT Clinic on Monday, December 19th, hoping to have Jeff's central line removed, but because of the nausea throughout the weekend, the doctor delayed the line removal until Thursday, the 22nd.

We think we've figured out the nausea situation!  Jeff decided that he needed to be on a more strict schedule with his nausea meds and he also needed to be drinking more fluids.  Today, December 20th, has been a really good day.  We were able to go to the mall and walk for 30 minutes today because the air outside is on the bad side.  Jeff has felt so much better since he has been taking nausea meds every three hours during the day, trading off with Atavan and Compazine and has been drinking more water!  So we are sticking to this schedule hoping for better days ahead. 

This is Laraine with a quick update.  On Wednesday, December 7th Jeff had an appointment with the BMT Clinic to have blood levels checked.  Jeff's neutraphils (infection fighters) had dropped to 900, which was down from the levels he had while in the hospital.  We were a little concerned but were told that this usually happens and hopefully the levels would soon be up.  Jeff was checked again on December 9th and was told that the levels had dropped again just slightly to about 800.  Another visit to the BMT Clinic on December 14th indicated that all his levels were going up and his neutraphil count was at 2,000!  Wahoo!  The doctor was very happy about that and so were we.  Jeff continues to be weak and tires quickly but he's determined to get stronger.  He exercises each morning and we take a 30 minute walk together each day.  The nausea is still persisting but we are hoping it will go away soon. 

December 7, 2011

Hi, this is Laraine with an update.  Jeff was able to come home the afternoon of December 5th!  His blood levels were stable enough and he was taking in enough calories to come home.  We are all so grateful to have him back with us.  He continues to be weak and is still trying to keep the nausea away, which may persist for another week or so. 

Monday evening we were able to have Emily, Libby, Brad and boys and our Grandma Cain over for a short home evening.  It did Jeff and Grandma good to see each other and have a visit.  What would we do without our families?  They are such a blessing to us.

Tuesday, December 6th, was quiet and spent settling in at home.  We walked together around Falcon Park for 30 minutes.  It was such a beautiful calm day and the mountains were gorgeous.  It was much better than walking the halls of LDS Hospital!  Jeff came with me to do a couple of errands and we even stopped in at The Home Depot for 10 minutes.  The rest of the evening was spent resting and watching some TV.

Wednesday, December 7th, we have a follow-up visit at the BMT Clinic at LDS Hospital.  Hopefully it will be a good visit.  We will keep you advised.  Love you all and thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers in our behalf.

We have engraftment!

Hello..  Today is Day 11 and my Dad's neutrophils jumped all the way up to 1200!  Thank you neupogen.. (a white cell booster that he has been getting each day).  He is still feeling pretty nauseated and food just doesn't seem appealing yet and he isn't eating much.  He also just feels completely wiped out.  Thankfully.. no fevers or infections and no mouth sores still so there are some positive things to come out of this transplant.

Yesterday as my Dad was talking with the doc's he put his hand up on his head and with that came out a big clump of hair.  The tech trimmed off his beard that he had been growing out since his admission to the hospital and the rest of his hair. My mom and I headed up to the hospital and we finished off the job. When I brought the picture home to Brandon, he thought my Dad had a resemblance to Terry O'Quinn, or John Locke on Lost.  I think so! 

We are hoping he will come home early next week.  Hopefully he can rest, start feeling better and work at getting his strength and appetite back.  Thanks  for your comments, thoughts and prayers. 

Day +9

Hello everyone, Emily here.  Thought I would update you on how my Dad is doing. 

He is now Day +9 or 9 days from his transplant day.  His white blood cell count or absolute neutrophil count has hit rock bottom,  as in 0.  He has no white cells or no way of fighting infection right now.  This is his most vulnerable time and the goal is to keep him from getting any infections which could make him quite sick.  A couple of days ago he had a low grade fever and had blood cultures drawn but so far they don't show any sign of any bacteria growing.  He is on some good antibiotics and is being watched closely for any signs of impending infection.

These last few days have not been easy on my Dad.  Being a bone marrow transplant nurse who takes care of children I see and deal with transplant patients all of the time.  It is not easy to watch little people go through transplant but I would say that it has been much harder watching my own Dad go through it.  Much harder than I realized it would be.  He has been suffering with fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, loss of appetite and just in general feels like crappola.  On a  happy note, he has had no mouth sores!  Maybe all of the ice he so faithfully chewed as the chemo was infusing paid off!   In the last couple of days he has received two platelet tranfusions and two red blood cell transfusions.  Along with his white blood count dropping his platelets and red cells have taken a dive which is to be expected.  So he will continue to get transfusions to keep those cells up. 

Now we just wait and get my Dad through this really rough period.  Soon, hopefully in the next week we should see some white cells starting to appear which would mean the stem cells that he received are taking hold or engrafting.  Things start to look better once this happens and hopefully he will regain his appetite and the nausea will subside. 

Through all of this I have been so impressed by my Dad.  He does not complain!  He is a silent sufferer and I admire and love him so much!  He has been getting many medications to help with the nausea as well as his regular meds that help him with sleep and neuropathy pain, so he is sleepy a lot of the time.  He still pushes through each day and faithfully walks or bikes, does his mouth care four times a day (which is super important for transplant patients) and keeps up on current events as he reads the Trib each day.  My Mom has moments of feeling very overwhelmed and worried but each day is by my Dad's side to care for him, comfort him and love him.  She is so good. 

Thank you to all of you, brothers, sisters, cousins, Grandma Cain, nieces and nephews, friends and neighbors for caring and praying for my Dad.  We feel your prayers and your love.  It really means so much when you mention that you are praying for him or placing his name on prayer rolls in the Temple.. Thank you, thank you. We know that Heavenly Father is aware and loves my Dad and is blessing him. 

We have such hope that this transplant will do all that is possible to bring recovery from the Myeloma.  We will keep you posted. 

Loves.  

ps.. I added some pictures and video of his transplant day below.  

Sunday, posted by Laraine

It's Sunday.  I love Sundays.  I went to our ward this afternoon.  So many of our friends and neighbors have expressed love and concern for us and have us in their prayers.  We feel a real strength from that.

Jeff  didn't sleep well last night.  The phenergan didn't seem to work like it has in the past.  He was given ativan early this morning but only kept part of his Instant Breakfast down.  He hasn't been able to eat anything else today.  His ANC level is now at 100.