I finally reached the end of my chemotherapy seven day cycle. The words they say, are written on the wall. I was in a pretty bad state. Extremely exhausted. My body itched terribly and my bones hurt so bad. The nausea was never ending and I could hardly get up to go to the bathroom. This crap really wiped me out.
Dr. Dave came in that morning to review my new bloodwork and explain the situation. As expected, the drugs did their job and the scoreboard showed a steady decline. A daily drop in each particular blood marker where the current trend was just zero. White cells-0, Red Cells- 0, Hemoglobin-0, Platelets-0. All other important blood markers-0. This was the initial goal. To rid my body of the affected bone marrow that was creating the Chronic Mylogenous Leukemia. The only nutrients that my body was receiving at this point were intravenous liquids and foods. Yummy. My body at this point now was in a very precipitous position. There was no infection fighting white cells left to protect me, nor red cells to enrich my oxygen. The process needed to be done quickly at this point and we needed to make sure that my brother’s bone marrow would graft to my bones and any remaining marrow in there would be overrun. It would begin to instantly enrich my body with a new selection of cells. Cancer free!
The next morning, Glenn would arrive and be admitted to an OR floor room to be prepared for an immediate ride down to have his marrow harvested. The procedure would require that he go under general anesthesia because of the amount of aspirations he would need to complete the process. Usually for a single aspiration there is only local anesthesia given. When you are donating for a bone marrow transplant, you need to access many spots to withdrawal enough marrow. Therefore, there would be just too much pain to not be put under. He would be staying overnight for observation. I felt really bad for him but this was lifesaving. I would definitely do the same for him. No questions asked. That’s what brothers do…even if I was the best looking. And taller. I thought if I had the looks , maybe I would get his brains. We would after all have the same exact DNA, like twins, and my O type blood would soon be his B type blood. Interesting. Would I also start acting like him? There was no way I was tucking my t-shirts into my jeans or wearing white gym socks up to my knees with short shorts on. Jeff would still be Jeff…and Glenn, Glenn. But we would be close. You cant get much closer than saving your siblings life. We just hope it works.
Dr Dave surprised me with the gift of yet another pre-transplant bone marrow aspiration. I think he was a bit of a masochist. I needed to be constantly giving the lab the marrow so that they could follow my progress every few days. What a joy. I lost count after a while. Ok…a moment to curl my toes and bury my nose, grab the table and here he goes! I hate you Dave !!! ” Ya ok pal?” ” Yes Dr. Dave…just wonderful.”
Lor was there, of course. I got to talk to Nicky for as long as he could hang and everyone would be coming up tomorrow with my bro…an entourage of sorts. It will be an epic day. A new life. A new beginning.
Next up: “Here Comes the Juice”