Today was the big day! All the Stem Cells that they collected from Cliff over 3 days were re-infused back into his circulatory system in about 30 minutes. It went perfectly, without any side effects. He is feeling really good today, super upbeat and full of sass. 🙂 We’re on our way !!  

After being lulled into a false sense of this-is-not-so-bad by the first few days of Chemo, Saturday’s chemo hit like a ton of bricks. Fever, shakes, chills, nausea, vomit, all the chemo side effects you’ve heard of. The honeymoon is over, and this Chemo is truly a nasty bitch with a vengeful streak. Cliff got […]

Hi everyone, We’re starting our 3rd day at COH B&B and so far, so good. Cliff had his first dose of Chemo yesterday. They gave him so many pre-meds to deal with the potential side effects, that he was completely zonked out and slept through the entire chemo infusion.  He woke up, felt fine and […]

THE UPDATE Well, I made it through a round of chemo, got a clean scan, got stem cells harvested, passed the basic physical tests, so…it is time to get my stem cell transplant starting tomorrow.  Despite a tough week during harvesting (and the fevers during and after), I’ve had a week to recover and I […]

THE UPDATE UP: They collected enough stem cells in only 3 days (last Mon-Weds)! DOWN: I had fevers and aches each afternoon/evening…presumably from the Neupogen shots they gave me to put my blood cell production into overdrive. UP: Thursday was recovery day…Friday I was ready to get out of the house!  The Neupogen-induced fevers and […]

Hi Everyone, While Cliff is at City of Hope, the odds are very high that he will need a transfusion: either of blood or platelets. Our Stem Cell Transplant coordinator has asked us to let people know that City of Hope needs donations and if you are interested in donating blood or platelets, it would […]

THE UPDATE My counts were good this morning, so they hooked me right up to the centrifuge!  A pint of my blood (at a time) is in this machine being spun at just the right speed to extract those extremely useful little stem cells that will be used to reboot blood and immune cell production in […]

THE UPDATE I think I usually wait to report good news.  It’s not exactly the plan, but when I’m feeling really bad I am not really able to write…then when I feel good enough to write things are better.  Well, let’s keep this realistic…I am doing the cancer thing. Just when things were going so […]

THE UPDATE Recovery Day 5, R-ICE Chemo Cycle #3: I’ve been through 9 chemo cycles now, and it is still surprising…how lifeless you can feel during the chemo and  then how life just comes back to you a few days later.  I’m feeling much better…and probably a couple of days ahead of where I “turned […]

THE UPDATE: The Road to Transplant I’m all checked into room 2144 at Chateau Robles for my last R-ICE chemo in prep for transplant at City of Hope.  It’s been great having my sister visiting/helping for a few days.  I should be home by [late] dinnertime tomorrow.  What happens from here: 7-10 days of recovery […]

THE UPDATE COH “Big Test Day”: we spent the whole day in Duarte getting tested (well, that was just me…but Tracey was there with me the whole time!) to make sure I’m ready for the transplant.  Looks like I passed…respiratory, cardiac, kidney, and all other systems ready to be stressed.  Marrow clear of Lymphoma.  And […]

THE UPDATE The results of my PET scan from yesterday: the cancer is responding well to the chemo…the bad guys are nearly all gone and the retreat is fully underway!  That means that I’ll be very busy being tortured (for a good reason) for the next 8 weeks.  This is very good, since if the […]