Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Hang On To Your Hats

We are home. We had a nice trip. The roads were good on the way home. We caught colds. John is sleeping. I feel better today than I did last night. Last night I had the blankets piled on, a hot water bottle in bed with me and I still could not get warm and I ached all over. So far John seems to be weathering this cold O.K. I hope that continues. Sam and Ben are sick today. Poor guys.

John went to his appointment at the cancer center today. He is doing good. We did have a bit of a bomb dropped on us today. Because his Multiple myeloma is high risk to recur Dr. V. has decided the best route to take at this point is to do a donor transplant. Hang on to your hats folks. All you siblings out there are going to be notified and will be tested to see who is a match. If there is a match the transplant will take place in Seattle in approximately half a year at the at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. They don't like to wait until the cancer recurs before doing this. Even though they do transplants in Calgary apparently they are not taking any new cases there at this time.

We will have a lot of things to organize for this. We need to get passports just in case we have to fly and cannot drive there. I need to get my permanent resident card so I can get back into the country. My citizenship application will take at least a year to process. I have to get an American passport so we will get to work on all of that ASAP!

We will have to live in Seattle for about three months so we will have to rent. I went on line today and figure that it will cost about 1200 to 1400 dollars a month for rent. Pray that I can get in a lot of extra hours of work this summer.

We may have to make more than one trip to Seattle. I am hoping that we will be able to avoid this scenario but sometimes they have you come in to consult then go home then come back for the transplant. I feel numb. Somehow we will get through all of this.

13 comments:

Carolyn said...

Me and my stem cells are good to go! Just say the word.

Doft

Sue said...

Ditto on that one!
If there is anything I can do to help with everything else, I'm there for that too.
Glad we had a chance to talk today.
Love you guys

Christine said...

Doft: they will be contacting you about that very soon. We are actually hoping that yours are a match because the younger the person the better the quality of the cells. Anyway we are very touched and are sure glad that your cells are good to go.

Sue: I was so thankful to talk to you today. Thanks for being there. I appreciate it more than I even have words to express it.

Trav said...

ditto what mom and doft said... even tho i'm not a sibling... if there's anything i can do.. let me know

Margaret said...

I am a bit afraid that I will not be able to be a donor, even though I am O neg. I had Hepatitis "A" in 1992 and that could, and likely will rule me out. I know that I can't give blood. I might if I had a certain blood test, but it is expensive so I haven't maybe they will do the test now that my blood could be very needed.

I will pray for you and John and like everyone else, if my stem cells are good, they are ready.

sweetisu said...

Oh yikes. Talk about using the big guns. But I'm very glad they're taking it very cautiously and thinking ahead.

I'm certain it's beautiful where you are, but Seattle is a very pretty place. Lots of things to do and good eats.

I'm rooting for you both. It's a scary and unknown road. Like you said, somehow, you will get through this.

footsack said...

As I already said to John on the phone, I am ready to go if he needs me.
We are praying for you all.

Momisodes said...

How very frightening to have this thrown on your plate. Please let me know if there is anything I can do. Even if it's just a listening ear during the busy weeks ahead. *Hugs* to you and know that you and John are in my thoughts.

Eve said...

Well, DANG!

The Invisible Mo said...

You will be very close to where I live if you come to Seattle. There are some cheaper options if you have vehicle with you.
Have you checked into "Extended Stay America"? They are like a motel, but with a little more comfort.
Their rates go down the longer you stay, about 58 dollars a night if you stay longer than 30 days. They offer full kitchens, wifi and laundry facilities on site, plus they are pet friendly. Just a thought.
I hope you find a suitable donor and I will be keeping you both in my thoughts and prayers. If you need anything in Seattle checked out, inspected, looked at...whatever, let me know. I can be a scout for you, if you need.

Christine said...

Thank you all ever so much for your thoughts and prayers and support. You will probably be hearing a lot about all of this in the next few months. Posting things helps me to keep my sanity.

Did you notice that I have a blogging buddy in Seattle? It is ever so nice to think that I can get to meet her and give her a hug in person.

Unknown said...

This isn't nice, but it's good that they're trying to keep up with everything and make sure that it doesn't come back. It's a good thing that he's got lots of relatives, so it's likely that someone will be a match!

Jientje said...

They can never be too careful! It looks like a huge mountain to climb right now, but I'm sure you'll do it, and you'll get through it and comr out of it stronger! No wonder you said you were feeling crummy yesterday,now I get it! And I'm with Sandy, the shoulder, and the listening ear are all yours! Hugs xxx