Heigh ho, heigh ho, to Little Rock we go

Well, we are in Little Rock (again) for the third time this month. Don had his first vaccine on Dec 30th. The vaccine process is really much easier than we had imagined. The day before the vaccine, Don gets a growth factor [GMCSF (Lukeine)] injection and blood work. The next day, he receives two other injections (vaccine and KLH) in the same site with the GMCSF. He gets one additional GMCSF injection in that site the third day. He also begins a five day course of Interleukin-2 (IL-2) on that day. We get to snap a digital photo of the injection site at 48 hours for the research study.

We arrived in Little Rock on Wednesday, January 25th for the third vaccine before his stem cell transplant. He will have another big round of tests next week. If all goes well, he will have the stem cell transplant the first Monday in February. We have moved into the apartment complex where we stayed in December, planning to be here for 4-5 weeks. Our apartment faces the driving range, which is a little like torture to D because we didn't bring clubs. The course is the home course for U or Ark golf teams, so we get to watch some pretty good players.

Don's energy has steadily improved over the past three weeks, as his red count has improved. He was even able to stay awake all the way through King Kong!! Of course, his sense of humor has rebounded, as well, so I have to stay on my toes!

It was great to see friends when we were home in January. Everyone has been so supportive. We will post more about the stem cell transplant as we know it. God bless you all!