A Typical Atypical Night (T+11)

I arrive at the hospital about 7:30 p.m.  It is my first night back after a week of being home with a cold. I’m happy to see my boy. Derek is getting a different look now – a transplant look. His eyebrows and eyelashes are

Transplant - Day 0 (September 10, 2014)

The little bag of donor stem cells came a very long way to get here.

It's just after 1:00 a.m.

Hooking it up to Derek's port.

Adjusting the rate. It didn't go through the pump. It was gravity fed and only took about 30 minutes

T - 2 or maybe 3 (Sunday, September 7)

T-2 or maybe 3 days and counting. Because Derek's new graft stem cells are coming from Europe, they will take a while to get here, so we are not sure if Derek will get them on September 9 or 10. But tomorrow, somewhere in Europe, the donor will go to

T - 5 Days and Counting (Thursday, September 4, 2014)

Today is T - 5 days and counting. In preparation for stem cell transplant, they count down just like a rocket launch, but instead of hours and minutes, they use days. Each day has specific things that must be done and medications that must be given in order to be ready. It has been a grueling three weeks to get to this point.


We found out today that Derek's stem cell donor is