Hi all. Amy and I spent the entire day yesterday in Boston at Dana Farber with 11 back-to-back appointments. We left our house at 5:45am and didn’t get back until 7:45pm. If it sounds exhausting, it’s because it was. It was an info-packed day and I’m sure Amy burned through a pen or two and most of a notepad. It was also a day which resulted in very good news to report. I can now (mostly) taste/enjoy food again (that’s temporary…it’ll all go away again on Sept 6th) The really important info to relay is that Dana Farber has confirmed that: 1. I’m ready to receive a bone marrow donation 2. I do have a have a donor (a “45-year-old European male”…I’m not sure how that matters, but that’s what they told me) 3. I’ll be admitted to Dana Farber on Sept. 6th and the transplant will take place on Sept 12th 4. I’ll be getting bone marrow (vs blood) which means that I’ll be in the hospital for a few extra days, but the payoff is that there’s far less likely to be a late-term host vs graft problem So all of that is great news. It means that we continue our forward progress w/o having to ‘tread water’ by going through another round of chemo to hold me over until a suitable donor is found. So here’s the low-down on what will happen in Sept. • I’ll be admitted sometime on Sept 6th. This is Day -6….they count up to zero. Day zero is the day of the actual transplant. • On Day -6, I’ll have two central ports (Hickman catheters) installed in my chest. Each will have two ‘lumens’ or ‘quick-connect’ couplings. Those are used for putting in the bone marrow (in liquid form), blood draws, IV chemo, fluids and potentially food. • The next day, I’ll get hit w/ chemo and a few tests (I better start studying now, right?) • 1 day later (Day -4?) they’ll start full-body radiation. There will be 6 radiation sessions (2x per day for 3 days…8th, 9th & 10th of Sept, I believe). If I understand this correctly, all of that is to essentially remove any ability my body has to make blood cells on its own. It’s preparation for the bone marrow donation. • On Sept 12th (officially called ‘day 0’), the pint to pint and a half (!!!) of bone marrow taken from the donor (which, as I understand it, will have been donated, frozen and shipped) is thinned down a bit and given to me intravenously. • If all goes well, within a week or so, they start to see some signs of my body beginning to accept the donated bone marrow. • By roughly early October, I should be back home with some significant dietary restrictions, a strict house cleaning regimen (I should have my mother and Tia come live w/ me….my house will be cleaner than the ICU at the hospital :D). All kidding aside, I’ll have limited ability to have guests and strict orders to not go out in public for a while. In a nutshell, our lives are going to change significantly on Sept 6th and ultimately, this will be for the better (one can only hope). :D Until that time, I have a couple of weeks to enjoy with Elise before she goes back to college at UVM on Aug 25th so we’re packing our days full of ‘dad n lad’ time. I’m ticking off items on a household To Do list while I still can and since I now mostly have my sense of taste back (if only temporarily) we’re making it a point to get out to our favorite restaurants in Providence because starting in a couple of weeks from now, I won’t be able to do that for nearly a year. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Amy and I are going to spend some quiet together time at the cabin in NH. To the degree I’m able, I’ll continue to send updates every couple of weeks. The next update will probably be just before I get admitted to DFCI. After that, I may need to tap Amy to send an update or two…it just depends on how I feel…which so far, has been excellent considering! Here’s hoping that winning streak continues. Thank you for your continued care and concern for the well being of my family and me. Kindest regards, Joe