Tonight I find myself thinking of the day before Christmas when I was a child. Or how my fifteen-year-old-self felt in the days leading up to my first trip to Europe. The anticipation, the preparation, the nerves.
I’m feeling a lot of similarities on this, the final day before my bone marrow transplant week begins. The main difference, of course, being that I was entirely happy and eager about Christmas and that trip to Europe, while a bone marrow transplant inspires a rather more complex mix of feelings. 😏
At any rate, it’s finally here and we’re feeling pretty ready.
A quick recap of what’s ahead:
- Tomorrow (Monday, September 12) is when I receive a high dose of chemotherapy. Even though the actual infusion will only take about thirty minutes, I’ll be at the hospital for a good portion of the day due to necessary preparations beforehand (blood draws, tests, hydration, pre-meds, etc.) and afterwards (more of the same).
- Tuesday, September 13 is a “rest” day, but we’ll still report to the hospital first thing in the morning for tests, hydration, etc.
- Wednesday, September 14 is the actual transplant (or “replant”), when they infuse my stem cells back into my body. That’ll be another long day.
- From that point on, it’s simply a matter of managing any side effects from the chemo and waiting for my stem cells to get to work rebuilding my immune system.
Because of the Labor Day holiday we had a bit of a break after the stem cell collection, so we tried to make the best use of our time to stock up on groceries, catch up on tasks, and record a couple of videos.
The topic of the last Sunday service we attended before leaving for Sacramento was “How Should We Meet Our Tests?” Not surprisingly, it hit pretty close to home, and we were inspired to perform a medley of three songs which we felt conveyed the essence of how to successfully meet one’s tests: guidance from God and Gurus; being part of a spiritual community; and music — especially singing!
Many people shared that they really resonated with those songs, so we decided to create a video of the medley to share with everyone.
And that’s it for now. As always, thank you for your prayers and loving support.