Another chapter begins

Yesterday, we had an early morning consult with the primary transplant doctor. We were over there around 7am and spent a bunch of time filling out paperwork. Some of it was real gloom and doom consent form type stuff. Additionally, there are a few different tests that she'll participate in. Most of it is just related to tracking/monitoring her overall progress. One item had to do with an alternate way to take an already approved medicine (pills versus IV). In general, given that you can opt out at any time, we were in favor of participating in as many things as possible. Given that the only way the medicine can advance is to run further tests, I thought it would be good to help out as much as possible. Her treatment wouldn't be as advanced as it is, if prior folks weren't willing to participate in these tests. One of Anna's concerns had been with regards to getting mouth sores, and while this is definitely still possible (and likely), due to prior testing, it's much more controllable than it was in the past (same goes for nausea and pretty much everything else). After we got through the forms, we were able to spend some time with the doctor to review the process and talk about what lies ahead. It was a good discussion, and the doctor was pleased with her current condition. All in all, I think she's going into this thing in pretty good shape. Her weight is reasonably close to normal and she was able to build up some strength over the last few weeks. She managed to stay out of the hospital for a solid 6 weeks or so, which was pretty impressive.
 
After that appointment, she had surgery scheduled to insert a triple lumen catheter in her upper chest area. Given the amount of medicines they'll be putting in her, and the amount of blood they'll be taking out, they wanted this triple headed thing. She's had a port since the beginning, but that one is a little different as it sits below her skin. You can see a slight bump and scar tissue if you look for it. This new thing is quite visible and sticks out with three tubes. It's a little awkward, but this should be removed somewhere around the time that she is discharged, so hopefully she won't have to worry too much about care/cleansing on her own. The surgery itself was pretty quick (probably 45 minutes in total that she was in the operating room), but we waited a few hours before it got started and then some more time when it was all done. All in all, it was a pretty long day.
 
Today (Friday) was the day for her to be admitted to begin the transplant process. The hospital called around 4pm, and let us know that the room was ready. We were able to take our time, eat dinner, and then head over. Leaving home was pretty hard. Anna's goodbye to TJ lasted quited a while, and everyone but TJ had tears. He was saying "it's ok Mommy, don't cry"... which, of course, made us cry a bit more.
 
She was admitted when we arrived and we were able to go directly to the unit which specializes in this transplant process. They initially said she might spend the first few days on the normal oncology floor, but thankfully, she was able to go directly to the room she will have for the entire process. She was able to put up a few pictures and get settled in while I was there. It's a decent sized private room. The entire unit is folks going through something similar, which is nice as the nurses are really specialists, but it is a bit depressing to see some of the other folks. In the past when she's been admitted, she was always feeling crummy and a trip to the hospital would make her feel better. Now, she actually feels pretty good and knows that they are about to make her feel crummy. I think she realizes it's another step in the process  that she has to go through, but it is tough.
 
Tomorrow will be the start of her chemo treatments, then Monday will start radiation, and a week from today (Fri Apr 30) will be the actual transplant. She's strong and she'll get through this..... warrior style...