All of our days are running together...

For most of the morning I kept thinking it was Tuesday, only to realize it is only Sunday. Each day is so similar, it is becoming difficult to keep track!

Just like the sun peeping through the clouds, Joe's silliness will reveal itself throughout the gloom of each day. He will say something completely ridiculous or cute that will make me laugh and reassure me that everything is going to be okay. To be perfectly honest though, the past few days have been pretty miserable for Joe. After he was discharged, he had little appetite (with the exception of Friday evening when he would sneak bits of food with a gleam in his eye.) Unfortunately, virtually everything that entered Joe would quickly exit in a most unpleasant manner. These past two nights have been rough as he has been waking up several times to dash to the restroom. Joe almost constantly feels nauseated. The drugs help, but they aren't perfect. It has been rough. It is so difficult to see Joe go through this, and I can only imagine how awful it is to live through it.

According to the doctors and the nurses though, Joe is just an average Joe. Everything he is going through is perfectly normal and expected for a post-transplant patient. It would be much more remarkable and interesting if Joe were to not experience any nausea or loss of appetite. So he pretty much just needs to bear with the blahs for a little while longer, then things should start to get better. Besides that, the doctors and nurses feel that Joe looks great considering he is five days out from a PBSC transplant. I must agree. (Not that I'm biased or anything.)

Thus far, Joe has managed to avoid any transfusions. This shouldn't last long, but we're happy to avoid them for as long as possible. Each morning we go to the hospital, Joe has his blood drawn and is given IV fluids. Yesterday, Joe didn't eat anything which was more or less suggested by the doctor. Today, he is feeling every so slightly better, and so Joe started to eat again. So far his lunch (congee/jook/rice porridge/mue/okayu/lugao/pick your favorite name...) has not made a reappearance in any form, and it's been a couple hours. This is a very good thing.

Now, Joe is happily perched on the couch, in front of the television, watching football.

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Just to go back to transplant day briefly (or not so briefly!). As I mentioned before, everything went very smoothly. The donor had her cells harvested on Monday. Joe's transplant was on Tuesday. It is really interesting, because many years ago, Joe did a summer internship in a Lab at Allegheny General Hospital. There he met a gentleman named Don. After Joe started his residency at West Penn, he had the opportunity to go back to AGH several times for rotations or conferences.

One time, Joe decided to go back to the lab where he worked and see if he still knew anyone there. Don was still there!!!! Now here is the fascinating part. This year, Don started working at West Penn in a lab where they do all things bone marrow related. Turns out, he had seen Joe's name several times but never made the connection. That is until Joe returned for his transplant. Someone referred to Joe as Dr. Lin. Then it all clicked. Don went up to visit Joe before the transplant. Then on Day 0, Don personally delivered the cells to the room, and wrote Happy Birthday on the dry erase board. Don apparently knows a bit more about Joe's donor. But being the good worker that he is, and wanting to keep his current job, he hasn't revealed anything to us. Oh well.

For transplants, doctors aim to get 4-6million cells/kilo. (I hope I'm writing this correctly!) Joe's donor provided 10 million cells/kilo. The doctor gave the go ahead to give them all to Joe. So now we hope and pray that the donor cells thrive and set up camp in Joe, and the bad cells get booted. This is all creating a temporary mess in the Land of Joseph, but temporary is the key word. None of us can wait (Joe most of all) until he engrafts (that is, when the stem cells begin to grow and make cells) and then starts to feel better.

For now, it is all about taking it easy, and taking everything one step at a time. Fortunately, we have tons of help. We are now living in Hotel Mom & Dad. It has been great since we are all together. My parents have been visiting as well to provide added support.

As usual, we are feeling the love from everywhere. I can not stress how encouraging it is for Joe to know that so many people are keeping up with his status. I know that he is lovable and one can't help but want him to hurry up and get better. Joe doesn't always realize this though. So thank you everyone for making this just a little more clear for him!

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A very Happy Birthday (a little early) to my dear pseudo-cousin Van. Have a wonderful time celebrating. Hope you find some time to relax and get pampered!

Day -1

Wow, wow, wow! All of you did an amazing job making Joe's day today. The hospital delivered 28 cards to his room today! This makes a total of 30 cards that he has received from the WPAH site, not to mention the ones he's received by snail mail. The lady who delivered the cards said that if he received a dozen more, he may break a record! Joe was so thrilled to read all of the sweet and thoughtful messages. He received cards from three different countries. After every few cards, Joe would look down and exclaim, "Wow! There are still so many cards left!" Thank you so much for the outpouring of love. The smiles on Joe's face were priceless. If you haven't already, you can still join in the fun! Just click here. Follow the directions and choose "West Penn Hospital." The best part is that it is free. :)

Last night Joe finished all of his chemotherapy. He was SO happy! Joe took it like a man, and that part is finally over.

Joe started his second dose of Thymoglobulin today. The wonderful part is that so far he is tolerating it extremely well. He has had no major side effects from it. Let's pray this continues to hold true! Apparently two other patients on the floor are receiving Thymoglobulin, and unfortunately they are not tolerating it so well. We don't know who they are, but we can surely say a prayer for them as well. It isn't easy for them, and it surely isn't easy for their families either.

Today, Joe also started taking two different anti-rejection drugs in pill form: FK5O6 and Cellcept. He will have to continue taking them for a year. Among other things he is also taking acylclovir, which he'll be on for at least 180 days. Also, avelox and diflucan which Joe will take until his neutrophil count rises again.

Tomorrow is the day! Day 0 (Zero) - Joe's new birthday. There will be no fireworks or fanfare. Just a bag of stem cells that he'll receive the same way he has received blood transfusions. That means today is Joe's last day being 100% Joe, 100% of the xy species, and 100%O+ blood type (His donor has A-type blood). This also means we need to be praying for his donor right now!!!!! This is her crazy day. After getting filgrastim injections for several days, she likely started the harvesting process this morning. The place where she is having her stem cells harvested is having her do a double donation. So she was hooked up for four or five hours this morning. She had, or will have a short break. Then this afternoon she'll be hooked up for another four or five hours. We are so incredibly thankful to this stranger for giving so much of herself so that Joe has a chance to be cured. How amazing is it that a girl of only 21 has been chosen to do something so noble, and has accepted the challenge. I imagine she has gone through so many emotions herself. She doesn't even know Joe! She is a very brave young lady. Hopefully one day, we will have the opportunity to meet her and thank her in person.

Shortly after Joe's transplant, either Tuesday or Wednesday and assuming all goes well, Joe will be able to go home. However, he'll have to return to the hospital every day for at least thirty days. Each day he'll have his blood drawn to see if he'll need any transfusions and to monitor his progress. We'll probably stay with his family initially so that we can all be together.

That's it for today's update. Thank you again so very, very much for all of the love you have sent Joe's way. It has really lifted his spirits to know that so many people are rooting for him.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
~Isaiah 43:2

To My Donor

Dear Donor,

Boy, how do I go about thanking someone who is about to save your life?! Whoever you are out there, I want to commend you for making it this far. I'm pretty scared of this whole process and I'm pretty sure you are too. Your efforts are nothing short of heroic. I know that when I was your age, doing something like this would have been the furthest thing on my mind. You are literally giving a piece of yourself to me. We virtually share the exact same DNA. Weird, huh? Pretty soon, we are forever going to be linked in more ways than that. I hope to meet you face to face in a year, but even if that doesn't happen, I just want to thank you. You won't get to read this message for quite a while, but right now, there are a lot of people praying for you too. So Godspeed, and don't fret, it's all been worked out!

Joe

Hee Haw!

Remember Sam Wainwright, who was George Bailey's friend in It's a Wonderful Life? Well, Karen and I just watched that movie recently...

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone! We hope you all had a wonderful Holidays. Well folks, in a day and a half, I will be moseying on down to the hospital for a little tune-up, an oil change of sorts. I go into it feeling moderately terrified but cautiously optimistic. Actually, a lot more than cautiously, but quite optimistic. I've got quite an awesome team behind me. I feel like that Verizon cell phone guy who's got that huge network in the background complete with helicoptors and cranes and not the guy with the phoney "network" comprised mostly of paper cutouts. (My cell phone is Sprint by the way).

You've all probably made some New Year's resolutions, but if you haven't done so, I urge you please to consider becoming a bone marrow donor. The chances are infinitessimally small that you will ever need to donate, but that opportunity to save a life is incomparable. Believe me, before all this happened, I would have been the first to stand in the "No Way" section because I was afraid of the pain and/or torture. This is nothing compared to what the patients have to go through. There's no doubt that my donor came about because of someone else's efforts. I saw somewhere that in the US (or maybe anywhere), there has only been one patient in need of a transplant who has ever found a donor through his own efforts.

These last few months have been great and I wanted to thank everyone who have called us, sent us e-mail, letters and cards, given us gifts, prayed for us, hugged us, gone out to dinner with us, visited us, hung out with us, and basically all out supported us. We've had a wonderful time and learned so much along the way. I've spent a great majority of time over the last six months reading voraciously. I recently decided to write down most of the books I can remember reading and came up with about sixty books. There is fiction and nonfiction and everything under the sun in there, so if anyone needs any good book recommendations, just ask!

More than anything, what I've learned these last few months is that life is good. If, in my 32 plus years here, I can dole out any advice, it is to be kind. We all share the same earth, and in the grand scheme of things, most of us have it so good. So go out and hug your loved ones a little tighter and be kind, be generous. Also, if you can think of it, be especially kind to my family, my in-laws' family, and most especially my dear wife, Karen. I can't imagine going through this without them. I can only imagine that the only thing harder than being sick is to see someone you love have to be sick.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for being my Verizon network (even though I use Sprint!) I'll be okay. This ain't no thang! I'll be looking to party with you in a few months.

Joe