We now begin the second phase of Paul's cancer treatment. He had several tests after the last round of chemo. He had a PET scan and CT scan that were both clear. He had an echocardiogram and a pulmanary test that were both good and another bone marrow biopsy that was clean. The Doctor Reese declared Paul to be in remission on August 21, 2018.
We went to Salt Lake City on August 24th and checked into Hope Lodge. We went to LDS Hospital and saw the doctor that afternoon (she is Brazilian and they enjoyed speaking Portuguese together) and then Paul started getting shots on Saturday to build up the marrow.
Paul had to be fasting from midnight on Sunday night (26th) and Monday morning. We went to the hospital at 8:15 for Paul to get a shot that helps to build up his marrow. It took 2 hours before we were finished there. We then decided to go to the Church art museum. It was nice to be able to be in a quiet place with nice things to look at for a while. They have redone it and it is very nice. They are still getting an area for President Monson in the Presidents gallery. We then went back to Hope Lodge for a brief rest and for me to get something to eat before going to the hospital again. Paul was to be at the hospital at 12:30 for the removal of the port he has had and for them to put in another port for the transplant. He now has a port that has three "pigtails" or lines coming out. It was almost 2 pm when they finally took him in for the change of ports. The doctor said that it would take about 25 minutes with 2 hours of recovery and observation. I waited and waited in the area where they would bring him too. His nurse even came in and wondered where he was. It ended up that it took 45 minutes and then they kept him there for a while. When they finally brought him back we had to tell them that we needed to be on the 7th floor at 5 pm for another shot that helps the blood to release the stem cells. These shots are given in the stomach. The 2 hour recovery ended just in time to go up for the shot. After the shot he had to wait a half hour to see if there was a reaction to the shot. She finally let us go about six pm. It was a longer time in the Hospital than we had anticipated.
The next morning was the day of collection of stem cells. We had to be there at 7 am. They did some blood tests and determined that Paul did not need the shot that morning. his white cell count was high enough. They then started the collection process. It is a four hour process. He finished a little after 1 pm. We went back to the Lodge to grab a quick lunch before the cleaning crew came in to clean the kitchens at 2 pm. We then relaxed in the room. We had to go back to the hospital to find out the results of the days collection and to see if he needed another shot. We were to be there at 4:45 pm but we did not get the results until 6 pm. They want to collect between 5 and 10 million stem cells and they got 6.96 from Paul. That meant that we did not have to come back the next day for more collection and we could go home on Wednesday and not have to stay until Saturday September 1st. It was so nice to get back home although we were really tired.
Our schedule now will be to go back to Salt Lake on the 12th and check into Hope Lodge for two nights. On the 13th Paul will see the doctor and he is supposed to rest that day so that he is well rested for the procedure. On the 14th they will admit him to the hospital and start him on a six day round of mega chemo. The transplant will be on the 21st. Then he is in the hospital while his immune system recovers. I will have to figure out where to stay because I can't stay at Hope Lodge while Paul is in the hospital. There are a few options; there are healing homes which the hospital owns and are right across from the hospital and are $50 per night. We are on a waiting list. There are hotels that will give a hospital rate but some of them are out by the airport. I could also stay with our nephew Ken. They live in South Jordan so it would be a commute of about a half hour. I don't know what I will do yet; I would like to be close but we will see. He will be in the hospital until about the 8th of October then we can be in the Hope Lodge again for the two week follow up. The next two months are going to be wearing.
