testing

Tomorrow Andy and I are going to Boston to Dana Farber so he can meet with his oncologist, Dr. Antin and then to have various testings over at Brigham and Women's (chest xray, ekg, blood and TB).  The first appt, with the doctor, is at 7:15 a.m. and then the last appt is at 3:30 p.m.  So, a long day but busy enough that the time won't drag too much.  We also have their 'teachings'  on the whole stem cell transplant process from beginning to end.  It's becoming such a very real reality..no more putting it on the back burner.  I think that may be a big reason why I am having such a hard time falling asleep.  It's been taking me an hour or more to fall asleep.  Then Ben wakes me up about 1/2 and hour to an hour later; then it's time to wake up Andy at 4:15 for work, then up again at 5:20 ish to take him to the train.  I'm very thankful that Jenny and when my mother is here, will look after Ben for a couple of hours so I can do a little catch up on the sleep in the morning.  That'll change in the fall once Ben is in preschool..but that's another subject for another day.

This weekend, we..Andy and I..were hit in the face with his illness in a very visual way.  He's not supposed to mow the lawn but we were having issues getting Jen to do it so Andy lost patience and decided to do it himself.  We don't have a very huge lawn here but there used to be an above ground pool in the back yard so there's still some sand around the deck area, not to mention small rocks..the kind you find on a path that are rounded out and smooth..anyway...it was warm out and he was sweating and he must have wiped his bald head with his hand and sand grain or something like that nicked his forehead, causing a bit of bleeding.  He didn't notice I think because he thought he was just sweaty.  So, I opened up the door to ask him if he needed a bag for this box he was breaking down and I look and see rivulets of blood running down his face!!  I wiped it up expecting this huge gash on his scalp only to find this little tiny pore like whole on his head.  It took quite a while to get it to stop bleeding but with ice and pressure we managed.  Okay..no problem.  The next morning Andy was shaving his head with a razor and while doing the back of his head/neck area he cut himself.  It was about an inch long and very thin...like several layers of skin were peeled off..So, I applied pressure, got the ice on it and it just wouldn't stop bleeding.  We went off on a ride..ended up in Hampton Beach and along the way we had to change the bandages several times b/c it was just soaking on through with blood.  This is all due to the fact that his platelet count is so low..platelets are what allow the blood to clot if you don't know.  Then he now has issues with blood sugar..or what we think is blood sugar.  If he doesn't eat well for breakfast or any meal really, he gets real shaky and weak and even dizzy.  We'll be addressing that with the doctor tomorrow too so that we can see if he's becoming diabetic.  Just last weekend we were dealing with a uti which somehow managed to get better on it's own..that's a good sign b/c that means his white cell count is still high enough to fight infection.  I'm glad that this is happening so soon because it just means that he'll get better that much quicker.  We're preparing for his return home already.  Cleaning up more than usual; like steam cleaning the rugs. Our landlord is coming over on Friday (he's visiting in the area from India) to talk about extending our lease until March 2012 at the very least.  I'm hoping he'll go month to month after that.  Our concern was that moving on September 1st would be dangerous for Andy..the movers and what they bring in on their shoes..if they're sick, etc.  By March, his blood counts should be almost if not completely normal if the transplant does it's job and cures him or at least puts him in remission.  God willing.  I'll leave it at that for now.  Tomorrow is a big day for us...a big day of coming to terms with what is now our reality.