At last!

The time we have been looking forward to—and dreading—is nearly here! Jim has received word that his therapy is scheduled to begin in a few days. Apparently he has done so well in the preliminary stages that they do not need him to wait two or three weeks to recover—and so they will be pressing on.

At this stage, they do not know if Jim will need to be an inpatient, or if he will receive the therapy entirely as an outpatient.

The next few weeks will be vital to his prognosis. Jim's wife, Debora, has been able to make arrangements to be with him. Since she will be his primary caregiver, she will be posting here, to let us know how things are going.

By the way, over $2,500 has been raised via this site, to aid in Jim's treatment. A big thank you to each one who has helped with this project. Because of you, he will be able to arrange for a clean, convenient place to stay while he is undergoing his treatment, at least for the first few weeks. This is an enormous blessing and could well make the difference in his prognosis.

February 13 update

On Friday, they finished harvesting Jim's stem cells. The IV antibiotic infusion regimen is also finished, and Jim's cough is a lot better. He is planning to remain in Seattle until Thursday, as the hospital has a few more tests they need to run; then he'll go home for 2-3 weeks while the stem cells are prepared. Around the first of March, Jim will return for the most intensive and rigorous part of his therapy. Thanks for your care and your prayers!

February 8 Update

Good news! They've started harvesting Jim's stem cells! This is an important milestone, and a big step foreward.

This morning, Jim spent a couple hours getting his IV infusion of vancomycin; then five hours hooked up to a machine as the stem cells were harvested; then, in the evening, several more hours on his evening IV antibiotic infusion. He said they did keep him entertained, and even brought him appetizing and delicious food to eat along the way!

He'll have a day or two more of stem cell harvesting, but will have to remain in Seattle until the round of IV antibiotics is finished.

Please pray that his cough will clear up soon, so that he will not have to deal with that when he goes in for the main treatment in a couple of weeks.

Update February 6, 2011

Jim has been in Seattle for a while now. All the preliminary tests and procedures have been done, and the doctors have pronounced him a good candidate for the stem cell therapy. However, he has developed a troublesome cough and fever. After numerous tests and cultures, the doctors can find no infection, and so they believe it is probably some sort of allergic reaction. To save money, Jim has been living in his motor home, which is an older model. With all the rain, there have been several leaks in the RV, and Jim hasn't been able to dry it out. Because of this, he has moved into a Motel 6 until his stem cells can be harvested. Hopefully this will also help his cough improve.

Several days ago, Jim received the chemo and other medications to help stimulate stell cell growth, and now is waiting for the stem cells to start proliferating. When this happens, they will be harvested for two or three days, and then Jim will return home for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, his stem cells will be processed so that they can be reinjected into his blood after all his original bone marrow is destroyed. Right now it looks like this procedure will happen around the beginning of March. He will then be in hospital for a couple of weeks, and then will need to stay close to the hospital until his immune system recovers.

Please pray for his cough and fever to abate, and also that he can soon produce the stem cells that are needed.