Stem Cell Factory

Sissy had a successful donation of stem cells today, she is a machine!  We won't know until the morning if they have enough stem cells for dad's transplant, but if not, she will sit in the donation chair tomorrow morning and knock it out.  She's pictured below in the bed, where she was forced to squeeze the ball for 4 hours straight.  No naps, which was hard given the 2:30 am unplanned wake-up.  Hopefully she will rest well tonight, and we have a massage at MD Anderson to help her relax.

Over the weekend, we toured around the Houston area, going to the Space center and the Museum of Natural Science, our favorite so far.  Jon had a great 33rd birthday, his great friend Chad Mason joined us for a nice meal and some drinks.  His new espresso machine has already had over 40 shots pulled in the last 4 days.

Dad had a bunch of appointments today, his white blood cells are back to normal, but we were advised they aren't as strong as a typical adult.  In fact, after the transplant, dad will be just like a baby- even though his white blood cells will bounce, he won't have any antibodies in his system.  So his immune response to the 99 strains of the common cold will start back at GO, and I don't think dad will be able to collect $200.  He will need to get his vaccinations again, but thankfully Sissy's blood type will take over as dad's type, thus Steven will be able to donate platelets as dad needs them, which will really diminish any negative side effects.  Dad's first dose of the last round of chemo (the pre-transplant evacuation) will begin on September 19 and he is scheduled to receive Sissy's stem cells on September 25, after which he will be a new man with a woman's blood!