THURSDAY, August 21- Transplant Day

Wow!  Last night, and my last dose of the anti-rejection drug that bothered me so much, went great.  No throwing up, no chills, no fever or ice bags.  I'm a bit tired since I got up at 6:30, but feel good.  I hardly ate yesterday (some graham crackers and a energy bar), but still managed to gain over six pounds to 187.2, thanks to all the fluids they are giving me.  That means sometime in my future I'm going to be peeing a lot.

Rumor is Carter Blood won't receive bone marrow for it's processing till 5:00 pm, so I may not start transplant till 5:30 or later.  The actual transplant time is dependent on size of donated cells, but should last two hours.  Generally, there is no negative reaction at transplant.  After a week or 10 days I may feel poorly and very tired.  But, my donor is a 25-year old, who matches on 10 out of 10 factors, and is the same blood type.  So, we're optimistic.

The nurses call this the patient's 'birthday'.  A nurse will stay in room to monitor the entire transplant. They don 't want things to go bad or have me accidenly disconnect the drip line.

Thanks for all your prayers and support.  Love.