Give Me the Good Stuff

After months of a "no drinking" lifestyle, Tyler finally got the good stuff today. Dr. M needed to get a sample of Tyler's bone marrow to get a better idea of what exactly is going on inside there. Tyler opted for conscious sedation for the first time and we've concluded THAT is the way to go if you ever have to give up some bone marrow.

They filled Tyler up with a custom cocktail, guaranteed to make him drowsy but not completely knock him out. His memories are pretty foggy, so I could post whatever stories I want about what happened during his hour of sedation without Tyler being able to defend himself. Unfortunately, I can't share all of the details because he'll surely find some way to pay me back if I spread too many rumors. Although... we did talk about Tyler going to nursing school so that he could give me nightly injections of the same cocktail so that I have an easier time sleeping. :)

The Bone Marrow sample looks much like blood when the pull it out, which really surprised me the first time. This time they put the needle in his hip and withdrew a sample from there. The goal of this aspiration is to see if Tyler's abnormal cells are behaving themselves within the marrow or if we need to consider a new drug for his daily treatment. In addition, Dr Bedalov wanted to get a look at the bone marrow results to see what was going on there.

As an observer, I must admit it was fascinating to watch Tyler snoring and then hear him answer a question and then continue snoring. He was sleeping and yet not sleeping at the same time. Overall, today's appointment was MUCH better than yesterday's appointments. We're still staggered by the bad news that we faced yesterday, but doing better.

After the bone marrow aspiration, Tyler got an IV of antibiotics to help fight his crud (cold or bronchitis or whatever) and then we headed home. Dr. M and Debbie and Edna make this battle a little bit easier with their attitudes and their compassion.

I snuck off to work for a few hours, which was a good thing because it was incredibly busy once I got there.

As for yesterday, we are just waiting for Tyler's typing and Gumper's typing to be complete. If they are a match, we look to be headed towards surgery next month. Personally, I would prefer about 6 months of time between now and the surgery (to get more prepared)... But it doesn't look like we will get that chance. We will just have to make the best of a rotten situation.

Thanks to everyone who has already told me that they are getting typed for the National Marrow Donor Registry! I can count 8 others who are planning to join the registry and another one who is already on the registry. THANKS!!!

Mandy