Requisite Countdown

Final Countdown

Today is a big day.  We are at T-5 and Pam will get her last total body irradiation treatments and will start getting Chemo.  She will get a very strong dose of chemo for four days, then she gets a day of rest on Tuesday, T-1, and then the long awaited transplant on Wednesday, Feb 13th.

I am afraid the transplant itself will seem a little anti-climatic.  It is done in her room, and it is like a very slow blood transfusion.  They use DMSO as a preservative for the stem cells, which has a very distinctive smell, and I have smelled it a couple of times now while Pam and I have walked around the ward coming from the rooms of other patients receiving transplants. I have heard people describe it as smelling like garlic.  I don't think it smells at all like garlic, but it is one of those smells you never forget.  Here is some more information on The Transplant Process.

Yesterday was a Good Day 

Pam's Requisite Stuff

We took our 3 requisite walks, ate our 3 requiste meals, Pam had her 2 requisite radiation treatments, drank her 2 requisite liters of water, and I only got lost in the Rat Maze one requisite time. Requisite is a great word. It should be a requisite part of your vocabulary. Here is a picture of the requisite checklist on the whiteboard on her wall. 

She has also kept the cards from the last hospitalization and her favorite art work done by Andrea and Jordan.



Pam's Favorite
Art Works

Pam's son, Nate, and her brother Mark, niece and nephew Samantha and Zach visited yesterday.  Pam's Mom called and is worried that I am not eating right.  I am actually eating like a pig at the trough because there isn't a hell of a lot else to do, but I am confident I will manage to get some requisite sympathy goodies out of this very soon.  (Worked it in one more time...)


It is 7:45 AM right now.  I have answered a couple of emails and farted around for about an hour. Pam will be getting radiation at 8, and should be back in her room by 9.  Part of the new routine is for me to get her a requisite non-fat, no foam, grande hazelnut latte, so I will do that on my way up to her room. I still get a little embarassed ordering coffee drinks like that, but I am getting more confident about it with practice. I really have no choice, it is a requisite. (OK, I'm done.)

More to come.