Too Tired

Will make this post short, as we are both really tired! Dave had his first stem harvest today and it was an amazing process. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. The day started out at 7 a.m. with lab, growth factor shots, transfusion of platelets, harvesting stem cells, blood transfusion, more shots. Everything actually went well, but Dave reacted to the transfusion of platelets and developed hives. They administered Benadryl IV along with steroids and he did fine. I understand that isn't uncommon. He will now be pre-medicated before they give him platelets. Last night he also developed quite severe bone pain (a side-effect of the growth factor shots), but it's controlled with pain medication. Tomorrow, basically he will do the same thing and, hopefully, collect more stem cells as today wasn't too profitable. I was so happy to see Brenda Howke today who is here with her 3 yr. old daughter, Shelby, who has leukemia. Brenda is Steve Howke's wife and they are Whitefish people also! It was so good to see a familiar face and to hear that Shelby is doing well.