He's not going to start this Day 2 stuff again is he?

Yeah, I'm sure I ran that into the ground the first time, so I'll just try to go with an informative update every now and again. Technically, though, I am 2 days out from my second transplant on Wednesday. Everything went well on Wednesday concerning the transplant. It didn't consist of much, other than filtering cells from a bag through a tube into my body. I guess the big difference this time is that since the first transplant didn't work at all (after my white cells were killed off by the chemo, they never came back on their own) I have been getting daily white blood cell transfusions to help fight off infection while the donor cells sneak on in and try to assimilate to my body. This is great because it's like I have a line of defense this time, but a little confusing, in that any white cells that show up on my lab results right now are probably not mine, so it's hard to tell when or if the cells graft. The doctors say that it will take about two weeks time, in which they will back off of the transfusions and see if I start producing stuff of my own. Yesterday was great. Almost felt like i could run. Today my temp is up a bit, and i'm a bit bedsore from being knocked out and transfused all day Wednesday. Everyday is up and down a bit, but they are taking good care of me here and are pretty quick to address any issues or ailments that pop up. Alright, I hope to have nothing but progress to report from here on out, so take care. Also, God bless you and thank you to those people that have taken time out of their lives to donate white blood cells to me so i can have that more of a fighting chance. NK, EP, PB,(all Houstonians that have no idea who I am but decided to help me out anyway) and my loving wife, Stephanie. Thank you so much.

WHITE BLOOD CELL DONATION PROCEDURE

I'm reposting a somewhat updated instruction to this process. Again, this takes a couple of days to get sorted out, so the planning has to be a little more intricate. I'm getting my transplant tomorrow, but have recently had a few fevers and infections that could be lingering, and i desperately need white blood cell infusions to fend these things off in order to give my new donor cells time to engraft to my bones, so if you are in the Houston area and are at all interested in giving me a good shot at this, it would be greatly appreciated!

This is pretty much a comprised list of how this works based off of my wife’s experience so far. I’ve been asked a ton of questions about whether or not a person can donate if they have recently been out of the country or have had surgery, and I can honestly say that the best way to find out that information and save a trip is to just call the clinic because they will definitely be able to tell you yes or no. The number is 713.792.7777

Everything that I do know should be included below.

Before the pre-screening appointment, the donor should:

Refrain from taking antibiotics 72 hours in advance.

Refrain from taking aspirin, ibuprofen, green tea products, or any other supplements that can act as blood thinners 48 hours in advance. It might also be a good idea not to drink caffeine that morning).

STEP 1) Please call 713.792.7777 to set up a pre-screen and qualification appointment at the clinic at 2555 Holly Hall St, just east of Almeda off of 610 near the Medical Center (open 7 days a week). They might take walk-ins but this will save you time, so please call first. You will need to reference the patient’s name and medical record number (Robert Toon, MR# 772497). You should then be contacted within 24 hours of your screening to let you know whether or not you qualified.

STEP 2) If you qualify, you will need to return to the clinic to receive an additional West Nile screen and a prescription for a Neupogen shot. Neupogen stimulates white cell growth in your blood and rarely produce any side effects in the amount that will be given to you. This is a shot that you will take home and administer yourself, or have someone else give to you. It is a very small shot with a very small quantity of medicine, so please do not let this be the wall that stops you from donating! If you have any questions or concerns about Neupogen, please call the clinic and I’m sure they will be able to answer your questions.

STEP 3) Once you receive your shot from the clinic, your qualification status as a donor is good for 30 days. The shot is meant to be taken 12 hours before you donate. White cells have a shelf life of about 1 day, so please contact me at this point (please call or text Rob Toon at 501.554.3532) so that I can add you to the donor list and schedule you for a day when a transfusion is necessary. My wife, Stephanie, gave twice last week, once at 10am and once at 8am (they try to get it early so they can get it to the patient ASAP) and both times took about 2.5 hours. They do give you a dvd player with a movie to watch while you wait, so hey, bonus! It is also possible to donate more than once after about 48-72 hours, so if goes alright the first time and you might be willing to do it again the next week, it would be a tremendous help at this point.