John and Jaclyn status update

Hi all,
Yes, if you watched local channel 2/7 in Calgary yesterday or this morning, that was my daughter Jaclyn on the news. As usual, they did their usual crappy reporting and neglected to mention that she is my daughter, and that myself, Val, and her brother and sisters were all put on tamiflu and quarantined also. The good news, she is doing fine, they have taken her off of the paralytics, and they are trying to wake her up as reported. She is moving a bit now, still unconscious, still on the respirator, and we have been told that she should not backslide anymore! woo hoo! The bad part has been that none of her family has been able to visit her since last Thursday and we won't be able to see her till Saturday. The other good news is that even though my future son-in-law had the h1n1 also, he was treated with the tamiflu and recovered within 2 days. None of the rest of us showed any signs of the h1n1 either, thank goodness. It has been a very difficult last 10 days but the things are looking far, far better than last week!

If you are on facebook, the Pray for Jaclyn Bates group is: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=305679335506

Okay, my news. I am doing quite well physically, emotionally, Val and I are still a bit of a basket case, so bear with me the next couple of days. Since I will be going for my stem cell transplant in 12 days (12 days!!!), I am not allowed to see my daughter until she is moved out of the ICU. 8-(

My teeth are slowly healing, most people can't even tell I lost 4 teeth! I will not be in the office until Monday and then it will depend on how many sickies are there. If anyone is sick in the office, I will wind up working from home which will really suck. My brother donor ha passed all of his medical and he will have the stem cells harvested the same day they are put into me. I have the joy of my last chemo at the PLC tomorrow morning and then a bone marrow aspiration late tomorrow afternoon. woo hoo! Just what I need, can't see my daughter, and some pain to look forward to going into the weekend. Maybe I should just slam my hand in a door and get it over with! 8-)  Kidding of course, as long as I can open my eyes, I'm a happy guy!

Johnism:  Where there is breath, there is hope!

yah baby!! I survived!! woo hoo! Not only was it a very non-painful afternoon (just a couple of painful moments), I only lost 4 teeth, and got 3 temporary fillings! Wow, the dentist and people at TBCC dental clinic rock! The freezing was out about 2 hours after is was done, but it's not too bad for pain. Thank goodness for pain killers! Now if I could just get the last 2 extractions to stop bleeding, I'd be one happy guy. Ah well, my last cycle of chemo starts in the morning, so only 4 more treatments at the PLC and I'm done. I'm looking forward to the next few days as I heal from the dental work.
Next Johnism: Live for the moment, but be prepared for the future! (And have lots of fun doing both!!!)

Well folks, the next big step is here. I get 7, yup 7 teeth yanked today in 2 hours. I am looking forward to getting it done and start the healing! As usual, I'll be a bit morbid about it and take a before and after picture! 8-)  Something to scare the kids with next Halloween!! HA!

I'm feeling great, in good spirits, and expecting things to go swimmingly well.
Wish me luck!

talk to you soon,
John

1st day of medical testing for my stem cell transplant now complete! Well, the testing didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped. I wound up getting my head and chest x-rayed, saw a psychologist, research nurse, dentist, blood work and had an echo cardiogram done on my heart. All in one day. The first of 3 days of testing!! The worst part was the dentist. I had expected at some point to have a couple of teeth extracted, but there is a very, very good possibility of having 7 extracted in the next few days…..

Crap. That made me a bit down the last couple of days, but I now realize that it’s my own damn fault so it's time to suck it up and deal with it! Just another part of the adventure! Yay…..

Only a few more chemo treatments till stem cell day. I still feel great, eating way too much crap, and putting weight on. And boy, does time seem to be flying by. I still have lots to do and arrange for before stem cell day, I'll get it done, but now I feel a need to hurry up and complete it all as as soon as possible. The people at the cancer centre are amazing and incredibly helpful. It has been a very reaffirming experience for me to see that there are so many giving people in the world. And that’s on top of all the fantastic people that I consider my support group! Which is pretty much everybody I know!!

A bit of a sad day today. I found out that today was the last time I get to see my original oncologist, one of the guys who saved my life last May 15th long weekend. I still have one more cycle of chemo and the next 2 weeks before my stem cell transplant, but it feels like time is moving way to fast! My official last day at the treatment centre will be November 13! Whoo boy, Friday the 13th, lucky day!! My wife and I were able to say goodbye to the doc and shake hands, but man, to me, that was very lacking. He is on holidays after this week so we well be sending a nice card and BIG baskets to the 2 doctors, and nurses, and admins that have helped me to continue my life and also provide much joy and inspiration to my wife and myself. It was even sadder to let the nurses know that November 13 will be my last chemo treatment with them. ..