Schedule for Bone Marrow Transplant

We have been busy getting ready for this. Wow, we have a bunch of things to do. But before I continue, I want to put our schedule out to ya'all.
Yesterday, we went to do the bone marrow biopsy. We will get the results from that tomorrow morning. His other tests we did came out ok. His pneumonia is gone. He still has his blood clots. He also has an elevated prostrate, which isn't good news. They want him to see an oncologist about it right away. So we are a little worried about it. But will take it a day at a time. If all is well, we will proceed as follows.
Wed. Oct 28, surgery to install a line in Ken for his chemo and blood draws.
Thurs. Oct 29, Chemo all day to start the coaxing of the bone marrow out of Ken's bones.
Fri, Oct 30, more chemo. I will be leaving with the dogs that day to drive my parents car to Phoenix. My friends Terry and Alan are going with me to help drive. I will return on Monday. Ken will be home all weekend, probably with the hiccups and nausea. We have to stay in Denver Thurs night between the chemo, but my Uncle Stan will be going to Denver on Friday to bring Ken home.
Tues, Nov 3rd, we will have a class in Denver in the afternoon.
Wed - Fri, Nov 4-6, Ken will get Neupogen shots. We are hoping a nurse in Ft Collins can come to the house to give it to him.
Fri, Nov 6, we go to Denver to check Ken's levels of white blood cells to see if it is time to harvest. If so, we will start on Sat morning, Nov 7th with the harvest of his bone marrow. The harvest will take anywhere from 2 to 6 days. They will continue every day until they have enough cells.
Then we are done until Sunday, Nov 15th when we will move to Denver. We will be staying at the Staybridge Suites, Denver-Cherry Creek, 4220 E. Virginia Ave, Glendale, CO 80246, 303-321-5757. We will probably stay there until the week of Dec 21st. We will have a one bedroom apartment that is furnished and stocked like a ski lodge. Except it is very clean and sterile. No plants, no nicknacks. Very clean. We will have to cook his meals in the little kitchen. We are going to pretend we are on vacation. Hope we can pull that off.
On Mon, Nov 16th, they will start to give Ken the BEAM High Dose Chemo. He will get that for 6 days. Then on Mon, Nov 23rd, they will give Ken his bone marrow injection. This will be considered day zero. It is sometimes called his new birthday. He will be going to the cancer center for things every day, even on Thanksgiving day. We will go back to the hotel every night. If we can keep Ken healthy and strong, he will be able to recoop outside of the hospital. That is our goal. He will continue to go to the cancer center every day until sometime during the week of Dec 14th. We are hoping that he will be able to come home sometime at the end of that week.
So that is the schedule. Unless his prostrate issue changes it. We'll see. We will try to blog when we can to keep you involved and informed.
Thanks for all your support. At this point, I think I have the paper route covered for Nov and Dec. I might want to cover at least half of it in Jan and Feb. Depends on Ken. I am going to have to keep the house really clean for him. Those that know and love me know that I am not that kind of house keeper. Guess I will have to change. Ken is going to be compromised for quite a while.
We are sending our dogs to Phoenix to stay with my folks. We are wondering if anyone might be traveling there over the holidays or sometime after the first of the year. We are looking for someone to bring them back for us. Otherwise, I'll have to make another trip to get them, probably in Feb after rush is over. So if you have any family coming for the holidays that might help, or know any students going there for the holidays that would return in Jan, let me know. Just throwing it out there. My parents are willing to keep them as long as we need them to, but I know Ken is going to miss them.
Hope this makes sense. Please ask if you have any questions. If you are wondering, I'm sure others will as well. Love to everyone. Bev and Ken.