After Thanksgiving and After the Transplant

Making Snowmen at Grampa Clem's with Cousin Lorette

We are all praying for Hector's recovery and had him very much in our thoughts this Thanksgiving. Clem cut out little wooden snowmen to be painted and decorated for the holidays (on the mantle above). Below is the latest Hector's update:

Hi All,

Hector is at Day +12, as they call it, and he is just beginning to make the slow climb out of the most painful part of the valley. His white counts are beginning to go up (he's at a whopping 300 now!) We are basically witnessing the rebirth of a man who was brought to the brink....of course, Hector would like it to be moving along a bit faster, but the doctors are pleased with what they are seeing and they are keeping a close eye on every detail to ensure they catch any signs of rejection quickly and respond to it appropriately.

They have drugs to combat the side effects of the drugs that are causing other side effects, and so on and so on. It is amazing what the human body can sustain, with vital organs manipulated with the delicate touch of a concert maestro...or perhaps it's Mickey's fantastical mop...either way, they are giving Hector's body quite a workover. He has been in some pretty intense mouth and throat pain, without any white cells to heal the sores, they have run amok and are no fun at all for him. We are just beginning to see those start the healing process, thank goodness.

Hector is such a trooper and just takes one day at a time with all of this. We are probably about halfway through this entire process, if all goes well. We are really hoping to get out of the hospital room in 2-3 weeks and even hoping to get to see family for Christmas. That will be wonderful!We hope you all had a yummy and happy Thanksgiving, and that this holiday season gives you many oportunities to experience the tiny miracles that happen every day... from a great parking spot, to a kind smile when you are feeling stressed, to an answer to a special prayer. We are so thankful to have family and friends like you!

Much Love,Claire & Hector

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HECTOR!!

Roxy's Rooting for Hector too

Hi All,

I wanted to let you all know that Hector sailed through his bone marrow/stem cell transplant without any problems....so far. He was asleep most of the hour it took for the bag 'o stem cells to be dripped into his PICC line...very non-invasive. The transplant was done at 1:30pm yesterday (Wed) right here in his hospital room. The Nurse even sang, "Happy Birthday" to him after it was over, as he was given new life with this transplant. It was a very touching moment. His brother and perfect-match stem cell donor, George, sat in a chair for 7 hours on Tues. in order for them to collect the stem cells. His procedure was much like a platelet donation, where the blood goes out of his body, the machine collects the stem cells, then returns the blood back to his body...another non-surgical and non-invasive part of this organ transplant process. They needed 5 million cells and George gave a whopping 24 million! Now THAT'S some kind of bro!


The next couple of weeks are particularly critical, as his blood counts will be extremely low and the risks of infection and rejection ("Graft v. Host Disease") are very real. However, his doctors don't foresee Hector to experience very many problems, particularly because of the way he has tolerated all of the stuff they have thrown at him so far...he truely is a stud!


By 3 weeks, his counts should be coming up and we may even be able to get out of this hospital room by mid-December. The City of Hope has apartment-style bungalows on campus that we will be able to stay at, in our first steps out of the hospital...and then it's all up to how well things are progressing to know when we'll be able to actually go home. It is after 100 days from the transplant date that the doctors will consider Hector to be on a maintenance program...whatever that may be.


I have been reading all of your encouraging and funny emails to Hector and he enjoys that a lot. Who knew we had so many GREAT family and friends?! We surely appreciate all of your positive thoughts and prayers...Hector is doing so well, even though this is no picnic by any stretch of the imagination, he is getting by one day at a time and determined to get this behind him. And now look, after 2 long months of preparation, we are at Day +1 already. We are bouyed by your love and support, that's for sure!

Much Love, Claire

The Show

From Claire:

Hi All,

I have been "offline" for the past week as I was able to get up to Santa Barbara to see the kids and finish off our move into the home shared with my sister, Mary Jo and her husband, Vern, until sometime after the first of next year. I'll keep you posted when we get a new home phone number, and I am still on the same cel number.

Hector was readmitted yesterday to "the show" as we are calling it. He gets a room on the top floor where all of the other bone marrow transplant patients are. He started his 4 days of radiation today (3x's/day...yikes!), followed by another day of chemo and be ready for the actual transplant on Tuesday or Wed. of next week.

They will collect the stem cells from his brother, George, on Monday and possibly Tuesday, then proceed with the transplant as soon as they get enough stem cells. It is an amazing process and Hector has got his game face on and he's ready to get on with it. I do not doubt he will come through this. He is a strong and very focused guy. He's got better odds than a casino, and look how successful they are!

He is currently able to have visitors...just no one with a cold or upper respiratory infection going on, and we all have to wear masks and gloves in his room. The first 100 days from the transplant date are critical for infection and/ or rejection, so any extra prayers or positive thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

We are so thankful to have such wonderful family and friends like you all!

Much Love,

Claire

From Kath: Special thank you to Sr. Helen for the photos!