Further Down the Road

Yesterday and today (Dec 7 & 8) marked the beginning of “mobilization.” That means each day Don is given a shot of Neupogen to stimulate his body to make lots of stem cells and move them out of his bone marrow and into his blood stream so they can be collected. Neupogen is the brand name for the drug, Filgrastim, a growth hormone. These shots go on each day until enough stem cells have been collected and stored for his stem cell transplant. The common side effect of this drug is bone pain, which he has experienced in his pelvis. The nurses say this is a good sign – it means the drug is working. As seems to often be the situation with Don, the pain has been mild. It did not stop him from joining in the Christmas decorating we did with the help of Paul and Emily.

By way of simplification, our Christmas tree is little bitty this year, but most beautiful!