Tell the Bees

Our transplant nurse at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) is Toni Dubeau. Yesterday she confirmed that I will be admitted to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston on Friday, March 14. My chemo will start on the 15th for four days, then one day off, and then I will receive my brother’s stem cells on the 20th and perhaps the 21st. The goal for the chemo is to suppress my immune system, making room for Mark’s stem cells to get established. If all goes well, I will hopefully go home that weekend….just in time for Easter. Somehow it seems appropriate.

My donor/brother Mark is flying to Boston from San Francisco tomorrow, to be at DFCI bright and early on Monday, March 10 for tests. He’ll come up to Maine that evening and stay here with us until they need him back at Dana Farber to “harvest” his stem cells, probably on the 19th or 20th.

Craig and I have to go to Boston all day on Wed. March 12 for a “training session” on the transplant, and to sign consent forms. Too bad we can’t just type in the destination and put the car on auto pilot. The pain is alleviated somewhat by the fact that Craig just bought himself a new (used) macho macho Jeep Grand Cherokee 2004, which is a huge improvement over his old 1997 Jeep. So with a great sound system, heated seats, and a powerful engine (at least compared to my Mini-Cooper), he’ll almost have fun driving the 90+miles to Boston and back every week for a while, or perhaps even much more often in the next two-three months.