Still Waiting

First of all.......HAPPY 48th ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD!!!!! I had really hoped to get mom home in time for them to celebrate together, but it didn't work out. They are definitely quite a pair....there is a country song by Tracy Byrd called Keeper of the Stars that makes me think of the two of them. Here are a few of the lyrics:

It was no accident me finding you
Someone had a hand in it
Long before we ever knew
Now I just can't believe you're in my life
Heaven's smilin' down on me
As I look at you tonight.

I tip my hat to the Keeper of the stars
He sure knew what He was doin'
When He joined these two hearts
I hold everything
When I hold you in my arms
I've got all I'll ever need
Thanks to the Keeper of the stars.

CONGRATULATIONS ON 48 GREAT YEARS MOM & DAD!!!!

Now back to the Quest for Stem Cells:
Both of our children were born about 10 days late, so I guess it is no surprise my body is taking extra time to make stem cells......I am just not a fast worker apparently!! My WBC crept up barely today, but was still under 1.o. My platelets were up to 24,000 which was a relief. But my red blood cell count dropped and my hemoglobin fell to 7.8 (normal is about 11.0 - 14.0). I wasn't surprised since I woke up dragging this morning. So it was back to the clinic, this time for two units of blood. It takes about 3 hours to transfuse two units, so I opted for the tranquilizer dart (IV form of Benadryl) and slept thru at least half of the process. The doctor said the reason my platelets and red blood cells are struggling is because the Neupogen tends to focus the bone marrow only on white blood cell production and it kinda forgets about making the other two types of cells.

We will head back to the collection room again tomorrow. At some point, my white blood cell count should shoot up quickly, and this is the best time to collect stem cells. They check daily so they won't miss it. I also have a check up with Dr. Moskowitz tomorrow.

Thanks for all the great emails and comments from my great news yesterday. We are so excited to have "the big picture" to be happy about while I struggle with this delay in getting home!