Lots of prep

Hello all,
Bikenut's wife here. I've never attempted this before, but those of you who know me know that I love to talk, so how difficult can blogging be, right?

First and foremost, I know I speak for both of us when I say a big THANK YOU for all of your thoughts and prayers. I cannot tell you just how much that means to me. You all know I am a really corn ball, so it won't surprise to hear me say how wonderfully hugged I feel each time one of you asks how we are doing.

I have now experienced the hurry up and wait of medical care. The "hurry up" was mostly of my making, but the waiting is the norm, not the exception. On Monday we arrived quite early (7 a.m.) for Jerry to have lab work and growth hormone shots done before having his Hickman catheter surgically placed. The lab work and shots were both done in the Winship Center clinic, ground floor. The surgery was done in the radiology something department in the hospital which we got to by traveling through a rather long tunnel.

It was fascinating to watch as the crew arrived for work and got started. It's such a different environment from the one I work in, yet it really is similar. We have people to help and paperwork to shuffle to make that happen. Jerry, I'm sure, will fill in all the technical aspects of what was done. I'm thrilled that I remember the thingie is called a Hickman catheter!

On Tuesday, we again reported early, but not quite as early. Heck we almost got to sleep in as we didn't need to be there until 7:30. This time we went to the 6th floor of the hospital. Betsy, our very own nurse for the occasion, hooked Jerry up to this bizarre looking machine that somehow magically drew the white blood cells from his blood and returned the rest to him. Betsy was quite pleased that the bag was filling with a creamy rose colored substance, which indicated to her that there were plenty of stem cells in the bag. We found out later that the doc said he'd be happy with 6 million; Jerry produced 10 million in just one sitting!

On Wednesday, we really got to be lazy. We didn't have to be there until 7:45! Jerry again had lab work done, which is much easier for the techs now that he has the Hickman catheter, and he had the dressing changed over the entrance of it since he got it wet in the shower. Later, after more waiting (surprise!) I was shown how to flush the tubes of his Hickman catheter and how to change the dressing. Not exactly how I expected to be spending the holiday season, but heck, I'm always open to a new challenge!

We now have a schedule of events. Jerry will be admitted to the hospital and given his chemo treatment on Tuesday, November 27th. He will have a day of rest and then receive the stem cell transplant on Thursday, November 29th. As you might note, this is AFTER Thanksgiving, so we didn't need to have it early. But we did and it was fun and I'm glad we did it when we did. Now we can just kick back for R&R for the 4 day holiday weekend!

Okay, I think that brings you up to date on my impressions of what has been happening this past week. Stay tuned for the real deal from my Handsome Husband!