April 13, 2004

Main Page • John's Journal (2000-2003) • CLL Information • Contact John • Seattle Cancer Care Alliance • MD Anderson

Day 1 of Pre-Transplant Work Up
"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." -1 Peter 5:7

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." -1 Peter 5:10

All the fun times at school, the work parties, and time with family have kept me pretty busy and distracted from the reality of what's ahead.  The distractions have to end, however, and now it is time to face the transplant.

I had to stare at the outside of the SCCA center for a few minutes today.  I am going to spend a lot of time here in the coming months and am afraid it won't be too much fun.  Time to do it though.  Time to win this cancer battle once and for all.

I will be cared for by a transplant team code named,  (The Blue Team).   The team includes an attending physician, primary provider, team RN, nutritionist, social worker, scheduler, and a pastor.  The team will meet everyday in the mornings to discuss my treatment.

Today I met with Antonette Hill, RN (Team RN) and Dr. Devon Webster, MD (Primary Provider).  Antonette gave me a general overview of what will happen during the pre-transplant work up.   Dr. Webster gave me more details about the pre-transplant work up and gave me a physical examination.  She told me I had a "buff" heart.  I look forward to having nurse Hill and Dr.
Webster on my team.  They were great.

Nurse Hill also shared caregiver information with my mother-in-law Pat. Pretty overwhelming what the caregivers have to know.  Nurse Hill gave Pat a thick binder to go through and mentioned the required classes on how to care for a transplant patient.  There is so much stuff to know.  Pat, Michelle, and my mom will be my main caregivers.  We will also be looking to have people fill in for them once in a while.   The transplant is a long haul·we will need back ups.   It was great to have Pat there today. I'm glad I don't have to go to any of my appointments alone.  There's just too much to absorb and I like having the support.


After my visits with Dr. Webster and Nurse Hill, I was introduced to Carole, the Team Coordinator (scheduler).  I guess she will be in charge of what I do with my days for the next several months.  She schedules everything.  I check my clinic mailbox everyday for an updated itinerary of where I have to be and what I have to do.  I hope she can schedule me an early release after an extremely successful transplant.

After meeting Carol I went to the first floor lab and had about two liters of blood drawn.  I needed a transfusion when they were done. Just kidding.

They did, however, take many tubes of blood. There are numerous blood tests to do before transplant.

The day ended with a friendly x-ray technician taking an x-ray of my chest. As is evident by this picture of me, any hair loss due to treatment will not be that big of a deal. I'm already ahead of the game!

I was so impressed by how organized everything was today and how nice the staff was.  Clearly, the transplant program here is a well-oiled machine run by some wonderful people.   Now I know why Seattle has a reputation of being one of the best places in the world to get a transplant.  It's good to know I will be in excellent care.



I better wrap this up. I have a stack of papers to read through before tomorrow. Today's first visit to the Seattle Cancer Care Center (SCCA) went very well, but on the drive home I was pretty overwhelmed with the fear and uncertainty of what lies ahead. There's a lot of information to take in.  So much to try and process both mentally and emotionally.

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