Day -7...Guess who's back?

Hello everyone! Jack checked back in to Mayo yesterday, and had a procedure to insert a Hickman catheter into his chest. This is where Jack will receive both his induction chemotherapy and his bone marrow transplant. The procedure went well and he checked into his new room (4E65). When I came up from the surgery waiting area looking for his new room, I saw many familiar nurses. They all remembered Jack and were excited to see him. They are even working on getting him a bigger room with more sunlight!

Jack started chemo today, and is getting a dose of Busulfan every 6 hours for the first 4 days, and then one dose of Cyclophosphamide for the next two days. That will bring us to day -2. Day -1 will be Jack's rest day, and he will receive the donor's bone marrow on May 15th, or Day 0. From there, he can expect to be in the hospital for 3-5 more weeks while we wait for his new cells to en-graft. Interesting bit of information- over the next month, Jack will have 3 different blood types. Right now he is AB negative. After chemo, while his blood counts are low, he will receive O negative blood. Once his new cells en-graft, he will produce A positive blood (the donor's blood type). This is the type of blood Jack will produce for the rest of his life!
That's all of the updates we have for now! Don't forget if you are in the Phoenix area and would like to be added to the national donor registry, our stem-cell drive is this Saturday from 11-5 at San Tan Flat in Queen Creek.

I almost forgot! The weekend before Jack checked back in to the hospital, his doctor cleared him to eat at restaurants and go outside without a mask on! He LIVED it up, and at a restaurant for every meal for 4 days, and even went golfing with his dad! It was a great weekend :)