Friday, December 11, 2015

The hardest week


Today marks +6 and I can tell you it is a day that has taken is sweet time getting here. As I mentioned in the last post, this week will be the hardest week of Curtis' life, because he is essentially fighting for it. The motto of a stem cell transplant is "take you close to death and bring you back to a new life". As many times as we have heard this before, it is hard to watch at times.

This weeks marks the lowest point of Curt's blood counts. All of his own bone marrow is being wiped completely out in order to make room for the new and improved. With this, Curt loses all energy, blood cells and most importantly his immune system. White blood cells are the infection fighting cells in your body and as of today Curt literally has 100 of them floating around in his body. You and I generally have anywhere from 8-11 THOUSAND. Without a defense system, Curt feels achy, tired, and is incredibly susceptible to any kinds of germs. 

Not only are his counts low, but remember how I said chemotherapy and radiation kill EVERY kind of cell? This includes cells in Curt's mouth, GI tract and skin. Because of the loss of cells, Curt is at risk for mouth sores, and has already been dealing with over a week of severe nausea. These few things make for a definite loss of appetite and thus he has already lost 10 pounds.

Oh and believe me, it doesn't stop there! To prevent any rejection of this bone marrow, Curt will receive an additional 3 doses of a different chemotherapy...talk about kicking a guy when he's down. 

Because of this significant weight loss, the dietician and doctor agreed that IV nutrition would need to be started. This nutrition is called "TPN" Total Parenteral Nutrition. It is basically a concoction of essential nutrients, sugars and fats to help prevent any more weight loss. It will not make him gain weight, but hopefully maintain and prevent any further weight loss. 

Needless to say, the big guy could use some encouragement as the minutes tick by so slowly, and he very rarely has relief from his aches, nausea and fatigue. 
Praying for a light at the end of the tunnel as we hate seeing him so frail!

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

12/5/15 A day to remember forever!



Coming to you from day +3!

Curt's transplant went beautifully, as expected and we cannot thank you enough for the outpouring of love and cards. Curt's room is the best decorated, and his windowsill is covered in cards from so many people near and far.

It was a magical moment when the donor's bone marrow began to infuse through his IV. We all were able to say a prayer together, and then sang happy birthday. Even Curt's nurse participated in the prayer and singing...SO COOL!



We learned a few things about the transplant that I found absolutely amazing. The donor was able to donate 2.9 million stem cells PER 1 kilogram of Curtis' weight. Without having you do the math, that is roughly 233 MILLION cells that were transplanted into Curt's body. It was fascinating to my nursing brain that we were even able to see the individual cells going into his IV line.

We also learned that the donor probably had to do multiple donations over the course of multiple days. Our family was again in awe over the amount of work that this young man had to go through in order to donate his stem cells for another man who he has never met, thousands of miles away.

The transplant coordinator told us that we must wait a year before being able to contact the donor. In the meantime we are able to send an anonymous letter to him, through the coordinator, but it cannot have any names, locations or clues that could lead the donor to us.

Unfortunately, the hard part isn't the transplant, but the healing from all of the chemotherapy and radiation Curt endured prior to the transplant. With today marking +3 he is right around his lowest point, and will hopefully begin to feel some improvement by day +8 which is this Sunday. It has really been hard, as the time seems to pass so very slow for him. Please lift him up in prayer, that he continues to have the drive to fight, as well as the stamina to endure this week. It is definitely the hardest week of his life.




Please let me know if you have any questions about anything, and I will meet you back in this space soon for more updates!



Friday, December 4, 2015

Day -1...again



Welcome back!
Wanted to give everyone an update on Curt's journey. As you learned in the last post, Curt has undergone two days of high intensity chemotherapy and today marks his 5th and 6th total body irradiation doses.

Total body irradiation is the other part of his treatment "cocktail" before the transplant. Twice a day, Curt goes into a small room where the entire room is filled with radiation which is hopefully erasing the last signs of cancer. These sessions last for approximately 30 minutes and often leave curt feeling drained and nauseated.

We have struggled with getting his nausea under control, and the only medication that seems to work is making him sleep. Because of this, he was unable to eat anything yesterday. He could really used some focused thoughts and prayers that he feels some relief from the nausea. Often times you will see a transplant patient come out of the hospital weighing at least 10 pounds less, as all of the side effects really take a toll on a patient's nutritional status.

Now for the big update! Curt's bone marrow transplant doctor is pleased with how the treatment is progressing. He also let us know that the transplant would be moved back to Saturday. The reason for this is, the donor's cells will not arrive to Dallas until 3:00 am Saturday morning therefore unable to be given until Saturday afternoon. Curt was pretty bummed that it was pushed back a day, but the doctor said this is extremely common, and we all know there is a reason!

I think it will be beneficial because he will not have two radiation treatments right before transplant and he will hopefully get a bit of a rest, before he will start different chemo medications to prevent rejection of his new cells.

Thank you all for your comments and prayers! If you were unable to pop a (birthday) card in the mail for Curtis, now's your chance! Since he is unable to have any visitors in the room, your love through mail would definitely brighten his day.

Baylor Cancer Hospital
Curtis Freeman C718
3500 Gaston Avenue
Dallas, TX 75246

We are so thankful that this day is almost here, and I look forward to updating everyone on how tomorrow goes! December 5th sounds like a great day to all of us!

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

The journey is here!


Hello friends!
Coming to you from Curt's hospital room in the bone marrow transplant unit (BMTU) at Baylor in Dallas. He was admitted on Sunday (-5) for his "transplant adventure".

Today is what we call -3. This indicates that Curt is three days away from transplant this coming Friday. As you learned in the previous post, transplant day is called "Day 0". This is the day that Curt receives his new immune system, thus they call it a second birthday...cake included.

Days -4 and -3 are being filled with chemotherapy, walks down the long hallways and even an exercise bike or two. The physical therapists were insistent that he keeps up with his six pack and biceps...ha ha ha.

Days -2 through 0 will be filled with total body radiation twice a day. Think of it as a little too much sun on the beach in Mexico...if only! The radiation along with the chemotherapy are the perfect cocktail (Jose Cuervo) to kick the rest of his cancer to the curb. Although it may not sound like a challenging task, this regimen brings lots of side effects which we are trying to keep at bay for as long as possible.

We thank you for your continued support, prayers, calls, texts and thoughts. They do no go unnoticed. Since Curt is unable to have visitors during his "journey" we encourage you to send mail to cheer up his day...maybe even a birthday card!

Baylor Cancer Hospital
Curtis Freeman C718
3500 Gaston Avenue
Dallas, TX 75246

December 4th will be a day that our family forever celebrates and is forever thankful for as it gives our guy another chance to show cancer who is boss!