Day 1

He did it!  Today is day 1, which brought along with it relief, excitement, and joy for both of us and some nasty side effects for Dan.  The chemo and radiation from last week are finally catching up to him and he woke up with a pounding headache, vomiting, a sore mouth, and no appetite.  Luckily, between some great medications and pretty good coaxing from yours truly, he's eating enough to satisfy the team for now and keeping up with his schedule. He's resting a little more today but is doing a great job taking walks and moving around.  What a guy :)
 
So now we begin the journey of 100 days until we are homebound for the east coast.  Dan will get much sicker before he gets better because he has no immune system right now to help his body run normally.  His donor's cells are wandering through his marrow and will eventually figure out how and where they fit.  The chemo/radiation killed what existing cells he had, leaving Dan in a compromised state.  The donor cells usually take up their new residence in about 14 days when we'll see his blood counts start to rise (engraftment).  He will then begin to feel better and better each day.  Until then, Dan has to do a good job of letting his team know how he's doing and they'll treat him as best they can.  They have lots of ways to make him comfortable and have been wonderful already.   

Last night was beautiful and special and one that we will remember forever.  We got to actually see all of our family from Camp Hill to Pittsburgh to Chicago and San Fransisco and share in the amazing experience.  Technology is amazing.  Everyone sang "happy birthday" to Dan as the cells infused.  There wasn't a dry eye on either side of the camera! Here are some pictures of the big night. 

Our Camp Hill family making a celebratory toast

Having a moment - the stem cells are in the bag!

 Thanks for all the prayers and well-wishes yesterday.  We are so blessed - hugs from Seattle!

Hanna