Settling In

Our week down at SCCA was much easier this week with regards to appointments, blood draws, etc.....I did have to get a red blood cell transfusion on tuesday night, and may need a few more between now and the transplant. For some reason my red blood cells have been not living as long as they should in my system. We took a few classes to get us more familiar with what we can expect during and after the transplant.

During the first week of my CML diagnosis in Feb. 07 I had an overwhelming sense of security come over me about a day and a half after my diagnosis. I just went from feeling sorry for myself, and angry, and miserable, and upset to ..........these people are now taking care of me, and I am going to get better! I had the same feeling come over me this week as we walked into the building. None of what I or my caregivers are going through is much fun at all, but we are preparing for a huge battle. I have reached a point where despite what Im going through........I know that my strength and the strength of my supporters will get me through this battle.

It will be an extremely difficult period of time to get through with all the medications and chemotherapy treatments I will be taking, but the purpose is to eliminate the Leukemia with the idea that it will not come back. The transplant process and the treatment regimen is somewhat complicated and I wont go into details at this point, but I promise to do my best to relay how I am feeling and what is happening during the process.

I cant even start to explain how important all of the support has been for me, but it has been extremely important! I am overwhelmed actually with how much support we have received, and will never forget it! I look forward to seeing everyone at the auction, and perhaps some of you sooner or after.

My new medicine I have been taking for about 5 weeks now has put me back into pretty good shape overall, but as has happened before the medicines have only worked temporarily. Even my nurse at SCCA is a little surprised at how well I am looking at this point. The better condition I am in at transplant day, the better the proposition for success during and after transplant. So that is the goal, and we are working very hard to be in excellent condition the first week of October.

Tyler