The countdown has begun

It begins. This is my last week before BEAM, the high dose chemo they will be giving me starting a week from Monday if all goes well. But this is a busy week coming up. Bev has been frantically trying to finish the house before we go. I have not been able to help her much as I have been feeling very down, tired, achy and not eating very well. I just found out on Saturday that I have lost 22 pounds from my weight when this all began back in March. Down from 179 to 157. I think that is what I weighed when Bev and I got married 20 years ago.

Since my counts were so low on Saturday, they told us not to bother driving down Sunday. Bev was previously able to schedule a H1N1 shot for her as a caregiver today, Sunday, in Loveland. Afterward, we then drove to Jeff and Sara's house to stay the night so we will not have to get up as early tomorrow morning. We are expected at the hospital tomorrow at 7am. They will test my counts again and if all is well will begin collection. It should be about six hours long. The rooms remind me of getting chemo treatment at UCH size wise but with much more equipment filling up the space so not much room for Bev and I, just an easy chair for me and a regular chair for her. There is a TV that swings out from the wall, but no big picture windows to look out like at UCH. PSL seems to be nice but you can tell it is the old style hospital when things were designed differently than today. Of course if my counts are still down, we will just go back home so Bev can work at CSU some and we can try to finish the house.

Tuesday will be the same, starting at 7, either to continue collection or begin it. But Tuesday afternoon I also go to the Urology Center for my prostate biopsy. That is maybe a couple of hours procedure. I am nervous about that but my Doc there made me feel better about my chances after visiting him the first time last week. Turns out he is from Nebraska as is Bev so we all had something to talk about, the small towns in NE. I won't know about the results for 1-2 days.

If needed Wednesday, Thursday, etc. we would continue to visit the hospital for collection until they get 5 million stem cells. We are planning to check into our "apartment" at Stay Bridge Suites on Sunday to prepare for BEAM on Monday. The rest of this week at home will be packing and finishing the house as we plan to be gone for at least 6 weeks.

Good things so far: I haven't had to have a transfusion of blood yet, Bev is healthy, I'm alive. Strangely, I have started to grow facial hair and some arm hair recently. So much so I actually had to shave twice in the same week. I am now off limits to shaving and although I wish it would continue, they tell me it will disappear with BEAM. Challenging things are: I thought I might have hemorrhoids because of pain you know where. Still have pain but no signs of hemorrhoids. Not sure what is going on, but needless to say this is making me weary of Tuesday and the prostate biopsy. Today, I felt bone pain again. Very similar to when I had gotten a Neulasta shot after chemo round 7 and then had trouble walking. I wound up in the ER that day then in the hospital for 3 days just to check me out. I think that was back in August. My hips and legs feel like they are squeezing me and it hurts to walk. Not sure what is causing this but hoping it is the stem cells rushing out of my bone marrow waiting to be collected tomorrow. My goal: to update the blog on a daily basis if possible from this point forward.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support, they mean so much to Bev and I.