The Harvest

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, after a year of non-blogging, I think it is time to get back in the habit of making and keeping contact with everyone. I said at the outset that I would not write if there wasn't something to say. And, with the changes that are going on right now, I think I need to tell you about the new things that are happening with me.

Some of you know that I am undergoing stem cell transplants. If you do not know, the stem cells are my own. They harvest the cells, put them on ice and then put them back in my body. I have been on a medication (Neupogen) for about the last week and it is boosting my white blood count so my blood will successfully carry the stem cells through my blood stream. I had a little surgery on Monday to put in my line ports -- I call the ports my "in faucet and my out faucet". I will keep the lines until after the cells are infused back into my body. The surgery wasn't very painful so I hope I can get used to the ports being there.

When I came in yesterday, they could not do the harvesting because my cell count was too low. I have no idea what the numbers represent, but I was told that mine were a 3.8 and they want it to be a 10.0 So, they sent me over to Dr. Holter's office (Holter is my stem cell specialist) and they gave me 4 shots. One of Neupogen and one shot of Mozobil. Now between these mediciations we are looking at about $30,000 worth of medication. I'm not sure I am worth all of that. Today, when I'm finished, they will send me back to Dr. Holter's office and she will give me another set of shots.

Today they actually started the stem cell harvest. I got to the Oklahoma Blood Institute at 9 AM and they connected me to the harvest machine. The blood is taken out of my system and cycled through the machine. and the stem cells are collected -- then, tomorrow we'll do the same thing again, and every day until they have the cells needed. I've been told they need 200,000,000 -- but who knows. I just know they will harvest enough for two infusions. Everyone here at the Ok State Blood Institute is really very nice, and extremely helpful. I really appreciate their kindness and care.

After the harvest I will continue with my physical therapy. The weakness in my feet and legs (secondary to the damage to my spine due to the cancer) has Dr. Holter a little concerned and she wants me to get stronger. So, hopefully the physical therapy will get me a little stronger and I can go ahead and get the transplant / infusion sooner rather than later.

I won't bore you with a lot of chatter today, but I will try to keep a little more information coming on a regular basis. I would just ask that you pray for me and for Debbie. All of this is quite difficult on us and we are thankful for any and all prayers on our behalf. We thank you for your care and concern.

God continues to take good care of me, and we rest our faith in him. You know King David put his faith in God and God cared for him and he was even called a "man after God's own heart." I hope to continue to be the kind of man God wants and needs for me to be. So keeping my faith in God is my ultimate Goal -- and whatever he plans for me is what he wants. Please pray that I can keep my faith in our Heavenly Father.

Grace & Peace to all... --Bob