Hi there family and friends, well a small, but annoying, change in plans. It has been three weeks since Dave completed second and final stem cell harvesting and he was scheduled to start pre-transplant chemo on May 16, with a scheduled transplant for May 20. Housing was secured, house sitter in place, ready to rock-n-roll. On Wednesday, May 11 Dave, along with his good buddy Steve, headed to Stanford for a meeting with his doctor. It was at this meeting that the doctor informed Dave that they were out of his chemo medication that was scheduled for Monday, May 16. They explained to him that they hope to have it in two weeks. Huh? This isn't like we went to the McDonald's drive through and they tell you they ran out of ice cream for a vanilla cone, we are talking about a pre-scheduled transplant that has been several months in the waiting. WTF! Sorry, Grandma and Grandpa, I just didn't know any better way to express the frustration we are all feeling.
1. My parents had secured and signed a contract for an apartment right next to the hospital. They will now have to cancel the apartment, lose a couple hundred bucks, and not know for sure if they will be able to secure another one before they rescheduled the transplant.
2. We don't even know IF they will get the chemo medication in since apparently there is a short in this particular chemo. I guess it is very trendy for Spring and everyone HAS to have it.
3. From what the doctor says, if the chemo medication doesn't come in, we'll go ahead and forgo it, and just do the Melphalan chemo (which was going to be the secondary chemo med administered on the 18th. Okay, seriously? This is like you being told that for your car to work properly it will need a new transmission and an oil change, but sorry we don't have the transmission, but we'll go ahead and give you the oil change and that should be fine. Sure, okay! Apparently, they used to do stem cell transplants with the Melphalan chemo alone, so they seem to think this would be fine because this is what they USED to do. Really? Problem is, you told us of this other chemo that was part of the plan and now we'll always wonder if we received the BEST care!
4. Dave and my mom have been mentally preparing themselves for this process for months and for them to run out of the medication they already had planned in advance to administer, is in my opinion, sloppy. There is a lot of planning to do to leave your home, family, and job for 4-6 weeks. Obviously, they are frustrated. And I don't know if you can tell, but I'm frustrated too! This is a family journey that we are on and we were all prepping for our parts.
Okay, enough with Debbie Downer. What am I grateful for:
1. I'm grateful that we have an amazing support system of family and friends that have opened their homes, offered to house sit, prayed, and just listened and supported us over the past 9 months.
2. I'm grateful that Dave is in complete response going into this transplant and has responded so well to all treatment.
3. I'm grateful that Dave has my mom as a caretaker. He couldn't be in better hands.
4. I'm grateful for the amazing local Oncologist and nurses that have given Dave the greatest care and support for the past 9 months here in Visalia.
5. I am grateful and aware of God's control on this situation and will remain faithful no matter how his plans doesn't always match our plans.
So for now, we patiently wait.... I will let you know the new schedule once we are told.
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