July 28, 2003

Stem Cell Day

Hey there. Quick email before Garretts is awake.

Sat was quite a rough day for Jade. Ate breakfast and spent the rest of the day throwing up. Never did get anything in food-wise on Sat. He slept good though Sat and Sun morning - - so he felt a little better Sun morning and did get some cereal for breakfast yesterday. They are giving him another day to try to eat before starting a feeding tube. (Sleeping and eating are major hurdles right now.) Sat was definitely a low point for him yet I was impressed that Sun was ok all in all. Not great but pretty good. Garrett went up for another short visit at lunchtime which was fun for all three of us.

Today is the Stem Cell Day. He will get three bags of his stem cells back - - each bag takes ten to fifteen minutes to infuse into his line. The stem cells are suspended in DSMO which is garlic based so we have lots of hard candy and hot tamales (the candy not the mexican food) to give him. For the next day or so he will taste and smell of garlic. In a few days they will start the neupogen shots (but only one a day) to help the stem cells/bone marrow reproduce more.

Gotta run but thanks for your emails and faith. We know there's an army behind us and we're grateful for how it sustains us. I try to pass all your messages/phone calls/emails on to Jade. Thanks for everything!

Much love and hope...................Tanya and co.