Day +3

Today Derek seems worse than usual. Since Tuesday he hasn't been able to keep any food down. He's on a few different nausea medications but im not sure they stayed in his system long enough to do any good. I took him to the hospital because I thought he was dehydrated. They gave him some fluids and some stronger nausea medications. It was definitely helping. While we were there he was joking and smiling which I haven't seen him do in awhile. It was nice. He finally doesn't smell like cream of corn! He smells like himself again which is awesome. I defintately know that Camden knows that something is going on. I really believe that Camden knows why he is here on Earth at this time. Derek says that when he is holding Camden and he is looking in his eyes its as if Camden is saying "Get better daddy, I need you". I really believe that that is true. Derek and I both recieved blessings today. Their affect is more evident than I realize. My inadequacies are great, but I am comforted that the Lord knows that we are doing the best we can. We appreciate that people love us and care about us a great deal. It makes us feel like we are not doing this alone.

Day +2

Today Derek slept most of the day. He can only get out of bed for about half an hour before he has to get back into bed. He can't hold down any food. His hearing is going as well. They said that was a side affect from the last chemo he did but its becoming more apparent now. Despite being terribly tired and weak he is so optimistic. He never complains and I would think he has a right to. I on the other hand am not quite so good. Sometimes I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. Often times the Lord has to humble me in an already humbling situation. Derek is incredibly inspiring and I am grateful that he is my husband. Camden is use to a lot of attention from Derek but now Derek can not do much for or with Camden. Today I think Camden just had enough from me and was super fussy. I laid him down next to Derek so I could go make him and bottle and when I came back two minutes later he was fast asleep cuddled up next to his daddy. Sometimes mom just won't do and he needs his daddy. Maybe I could do this alone. It doesn't mean I want to.

Day +1

Today Derek is definitely feeling the affects. He slept most of the day. I had to wake him up multiple times to make him drink water and take his medication. Since he was diagnosed and has had to stay home, he's been bothered by the fact that he can't work. Now with the transplant he can't even help out around the house and that really bothers him. I was taking out the trash and he said "Do you want me to do that?" Of course not. A trashcan is a breeding ground for bacteria, silly Derek. I think the hardest thing he has to deal with is not being able to help with the baby. I think Camden can tell that something is going on. He just likes being with mommy and daddy. This is just the beginning. It's only going to get worse from here. Derek and I always joke that after enduring everything we have in our first year of marriage, that getting divorced after this would just be silly, not that we would ever want to. As I look at Camden and his sweet face I realize more and more that I need Derek around. I'll do whatever I need to to get him better.

Day 0

Today Derek got his stem cells back. It is quite a process. His stem cells were frozen in multiple bags so today he got 6 bags of stem cells back. There was one person who would unfreeze the bags, another who would check the numbers and make sure Derek was getting his cells back, one nurse who was hooking up the bags to his iv, and another person logging everything. Once the cells are unfrozen the cells need to make it into Derek within a few minutes otherwise the cells may be damaged. With a couple of the bags the line would get clogged and they had to hurry and get them back into Derek. With the cells come a cream of corn smell. They said Derek's breath and urine would smell like cream of corn but his entire body smells like it to me. My whole house smells like it really strongly. While getting the cells they are still cold so they can give you a cough and they did give Derek a bad cough and started throwing up. He was too weak to hold his own barf bucket so I had to hold it for him. I told him that's love when someone holds your barf bucket for you! He was in a lot of pain. I have never seen Derek look so sick, its definitely hard. I can't imagine what he is going through. I have to take his temperature multiple times a day to make sure he isn't getting an infection, I have to monitor his medication, and force him to eat and drink. He is too sick to do much on his own. His special diet has started. We appreciate everyone's love and support but we now have to limit our visitors. If you are healthy enough and you do come over you will be asked to wash your hands as soon as you come in. From this point he is only going to get sicker before he gets better.

Day -1

On day -1 Derek got chemo. He has been through hours upon hours of chemo so this was really nothing different for him except that he got a bed to lay in while he got chemo! And they spoiled him and got him breakfast and lunch. He had to get 4 hours of hydration before he got chemo to make sure his kidneys would be okay while getting the chemo. This chemo is not the same chemo that he has been getting, he received high dose chemotherapy which is much stronger than what he is use to getting. The effects are going to be more evident later in the week. This chemo is suppose to knock out most of his cancer and then in a month he will get a second transplant to knock out the rest of it and hopefully cure him. As I have been doing research on Hodgkins Lymphoma transplant patients his chances for a cure are over 50% which is quite a high number. Lets keep praying that he will be cured, I think he had endured enough and deserves to be cancer free.

Derek's transplant overview

Hello everyone! I'm not much for blogging but I thought I better get it together. We have a lot of people who want to know how Derek is doing so I will be doing a daily blog on what he is doing and how he is doing. The day that he gets his stem cells back is called Day 0, any thing before is in the negative days and anything after is positive days. Its just a bit of transplant lingo to help you know where he is with the transplant. If you have any questions on what is going on then just let me know, its a bit confusing. This is an extremely stressful time and we appreciate everyone's love and support.

We are lame

Okay we haven't posted in a long time. Like 4 days before we got married, so clearly we stink at this blogging thing, we will try to be better. This will be nice when baby Camden gets here and we can post everything you never wanted to know about how raunchy his diaper is one day or how much he cried.