Troy arrived safely in Rochester and has been undergoing many tests. His first 3 days have been filled from early morning till late afternoon. Tomorrow he will meet with the doctors and get all the information on his test results and meet with the counselors of the stem cell transplant team to discuss all that will be taking place. It is very cold in Rochester. Troy keeps re minding me to make sure I bring plenty of warm clothes when I go on the 24th. we are very thankful for George taking the trip with Troy to help him and keep him company. Northwest Airlines lost Georges' luggage and he still doesn't have it:( Believe it or not......5 days into the trip.....it's in Central America. Thank goodness they are paying him to buy clothes and daily necessities. The picture above is a part of the Mayo clinic. Troy says it is amazing. I will let you know more tomorrow.

Troy will be leaving on Saturday the 1oth to Rochester, Minnesota. George will be going along for the first two weeks. He will be getting another bone marrow biopsy on the 12th, as well as many other tests of his whole body. He is due to meet with the doctors and the stem cell transplant team on the 15th to go over test results and to discuss his upcoming treatments. I will be flying to Minnesota on the 24th. Troy will start growth factor shots on the 26th to increase production of his stem cells and if all goes well they will be removed and frozen by the 3oth. We are scheduled to arrive back in the tri-cites on the 31st. The current plan is for Troy to do 5 more cycles of the Velcade chemo. We will know alot more on the 15th. I will update you all as soon as we get more news. Thanks to all of our friends for your help and prayers. We love you:)

Troy started his 3rd cycle of chemo on Tuesday and he had his appointment with Dr. Rado. We received great news. The Velcade (chemo) is doing what they hoped it would do. Troys' creatine level had dropped to 2.2. This means his kidneys are functioning much better and this will help his stem cell transplant be more successful. Troy will be leaving January 10th to go to Minnesota. His appointment is on the 12th. It looks like he will be there for a minimum of 7 weeks. George will go with him first and then I will go about two to three weeks later, depending on when the conditioning period begins. Happy holidays to everyone:)

Time is flying by and we can't believe that Christmas is almost here. Troy is doing good. His water weight is gone now.....thanks to the diuretics. Chemo is chemo and for the most part he feels sick for a couple days after each dose. This week is his off week and then he will start for another 2 weeks next week. We are anxious for the stem cell transplant. Troy will be leaving January 19th. His best friend George will be going for the first 2 weeks and then I will go after, when it's the hardest time for him. It is called the conditioning period. They will give him high doses of chemo, bring his immunity down to 0 and give him stem cells. My friends and I have been putting together a fundraiser to help with the expenses. Keep us in your prayers.

Second Cycle of chemo

Troy started his second cycle of Chemo yesterday. You do two weeks and then have one week off. He will do a total of 4 cycles and should be done in early January. The chemo is miserable for him. The Mayo clinic called two days ago to give us his tentative schedule for his stem cell transplant. It looks like he will be going back to Minnesota January 19th. He begged the doctor to let him stop the current treatment, but the doctor won. He gained close to 26 pounds becuase of the steroids and it is all water weight. His kidney specialist increased his diuertics. He is very tired and just wants our lives to be back to normal.

Second week of chemo

Troy is starting his second week of chemo today. He had a bad day yesterday. The steroids are making him swell, his stomach is at least twice the size. He was nauseated and overall felt yucky. he will get his labs taken today also, so I'll let you all know if the velcade is working at when we find out.

Friends getting together after diagnosis this summer

I'm in the middle with my hand on my best buddies shoulder and surrounded by my friends.