Day +17

Still feel the same today- had to get platelets and blood - white blood counts continue to slowly (i repeat, slowly) move up a little. Was offered pt and tutoring today - passed on both, thank you . . .

P.S. thank u to: aunt kathleen for gift package and aunt marsha for yankee pants (Eric - the yankee toilet paper would have been nice . . .could have used it today)

Day +16

Still feel like sh@& - white blood counts went up a little today again - zzz most of the day - yankees lost . . .

Day +15

Finally, thank you Yankees . . . the winning streak now begins . . .

Day +14

Well, think i am in contention for another achievement award on 6 West . . . yesterday I had a serious bloody nose for 2.5 hours - was very impressive and really got the attention of my nurses and doctors. After they pumped me up with many units of platelets it finally stopped (then started again for little bit). They also did a ultrasound on my neck yesterday to make sure there were no clots because it became all swollen. All part of the healing process they keep telling me. . . today my white blood counts went up just a little (the right direction at least) and i felt better than yesterday. Got all pills down, did my shower and pt - a few exercises in bed and half a walk around the bed - continuing to sculpt the body. Now that i just saw the score for the sox-yankee game im ready to hit the morphine button and go to sleep again.

P.S.- thank u to: the Anthonys for the Yankee blanket and chocolates to bribe the nurses and to Amy and everyone at Dr. Joe's office (and Aylwards) for the creative gift box with lots of Yankee stuff, Chuck Norris tshirt (and especially for the nice message that Dr. Joe wrote on the card . . .)

P.S.S. - Eric - you should be experienced at treating burns . . .

Day +13

13 was not my lucky number today . . . long day . . . tell you about it later . . . zzz

Day +12

same . . . waiting for blood counts to come up so I can stop feeling like SH@&!!!!
(Hey Eric, how bout that 3rd inning of the Mets game against the Rockies???.....!)

Day +11

All day totally focused on getting pills down and keeping down, doctor's orders - accomplished goal - now i can sleep . . . Mets suck . . . zzzzzzzzz

Day +10

We are now into double digits - Day +10. Had another rough day - the usual, even the pot pills don't seem to be helping keep all these pills down.

P.S. Sending a thank u out to: my aunt Marsha - great poster & tshirt and to the Hunt family- Chandler and Jared, you did a great job of picking out yankee stuff - it was a nice surprise and i really appreciate the yankee support!

Day +9

Spent the day sleeping, trying to take pills and throwing up all day -- the usual. They tell me its basically going to be this way until blood counts come up - could be a while, different for everyone and you know - i never take the easy way. . . yankees are not helping . .

Day +8

Very uneventful day - i did not throw up at all today . . . still felt like it though. Weekends are quiet here in the hospital. No PT today, body still recovering from yesterday. Took pills and slept. Woke up every once in a while to watch baseball game (yeah, I know who won) . . . . had a dream that Eric snuck into my room and tried to steal my pot pills but took the laxatives by mistake . . .

Day +7

Today was only somewhat better - hey, only threw up twice (if that's your definition of a good day). Had physical therapy - which consisted of lifting my arms and walking around the bed - I am working on my phenomenal aerobic abilities. Rest of the day was taking pills and sleeping. They put an extension on my bed - now I can stretch out - was starting to feel a bit cramped . . . speaking of feeling cramped - don't want to talk about the Red Sox-Yankee game tonight- I already feel bad enough - just want to take my pot pill and go to sleep . . .

Day +6

Today was a bad one too - - except for A-Rod's final hit in the Yankees game (brought a smile to my face) . . . he is just warming up for Boston. Tonight I finally tried the anti-nausea pill that my doctor has been pushing me to - it's called Marinol (the pot pill) . . . I am for the first time enjoying one of my meds. Kept this pill down and looking forward to the next.
P.S. Eric - you know it is always all about me, the "golden boy" so get over it.

Day +5

today sucks too . . . . not quite as bad as yesterday - slept through most of it zzzz

Day +4

today sucks . . .

Day +3

Better day today. They switched most of my meds to either IV or liquid so things stayed down a little better. I took my walk today and played a little xbox with Kev. Boston marathon went on without me.

Day +2

Big announcement - - i have decided not to run in the Boston marathon tomorrow. Sorry to disappoint anyone but weather is not looking good and do to the fact that i felt lousy today and was unable to train i think i will just stay in my hospital room. No record breaking poops today. Biggest effort today was keeping pills down - had to repeat some several times . . .

Day +1

Well, i don't feel any different now that I have new cells working in my body, still feel nauseous, weak and tired - i'm told it will get worse before it gets better.
After days of everyone here worried about my constipation, today i really showed them. I earned my first award here at Dana-Farber/Childrens hosptial - "Largest Amount of Poop in One Sitting" - 1.80 liters! They even made an achievement certificate that is proudly displayed on the outside of my door. I also added to that a little later trying to go for the all time record. . . and today I had lucky nurse Nikki again so we have bonded even more after sharing this momentous experience. The nurses here have to examine, weigh and document every bodily fluid so i couldn't be happier that it was a Red Sox fan that had the honors (especially since they won today as Ernie made sure that i knew). Needless to say, i don't think they are worried about my constipation any more. Also took another walk today and actually made it all the way to the end of the hall and back- marathon conditioning again.

Day 0

Today is the big day - Day 0 - transplant day. Still recovering from all that chemo and radiation but feeling somewhat human. Completed my 7 days restriction to my room and doctors wanted me to get up and move around. i took a walk down the hall to the video room preparing for the Boston marathon (actually just trying to work my way up to making it further down the hall to the kitchen) Got a little closer to nurse Nikki today - have her promising to bake me some cookies when ive been engrafted for at least 3 days. Shes a big red sox fan and asked me what kind of cookie i wanted so i requested them with the Yankee emblem! My donor bone marrow arrived on the floor at 8 pm and i was hooked up and actually started receiving it at 9 and it was done by 10. It looked just like a big bag of blood, just like the transfusions ive had in the past but this is much more meaningful. After this i will be a new man - maybe as powerful as Chuck Norris - Walker Texas Ranger. . .you know how no one can ever stop him!

Day -1

Last day of radiation! My body feels like it has been baking in an oven but one good thing, the nurses now get to lather lotion all over me and thats okay by me! Due to the radiation suntan effects i'm working on my bikini line. Tomorrow is called Day 0 (which i think is bullshit since i definitly feel like i've been through more that 0 days) thats what they call the day the transplant takes place. My donor marrow is due to arrive at 6 pm at Logan Airport tomorrow so actual transplant will take place late at night. Found out the donors blood type is different than mine so by the time this is all over I will end up with a totally different blood type - cool. Feeling a little better tonight but another hot nurse needs to medicate me so I have to go . . .

Day -2

radiation again 2x today - its always an adventure getting there - its all the way over in another hospital thats connected with ours but we have to take about 4 different elevators and 3 walkways to get there and i'm always late because i always have to throw up right before we leave my room. My transport nurse Kim tries to make up the time by pushing my wheel chair at warp speed - i think shes practicing for the Boston marathon. it takes all morning to recover from that and then I have to do it again in the afternoon. Still feel like shit. Highlight of day was when a package arrived from my aunt marsha - a New York Yankee poster. It is now proudly displayed above my bed!

Day -3

Repeat of yesterday - radiation and sleep, then radiation and sleep again. Still feel like shit. Worse thing about today was that it was opening day at home for the Red Sox and everyone in the hospital was dressed in Red Sox stuff . . . they had Red Sox parties at lunch, Red Sox balloons everywhere, handed out Red Sox shirts & books . . . it just wouldn't end . . .

Day -4

Really rough today - feel like total shit. Had total body radiation 2x today - listened to Aerosmith while i laid there for what seemed like forever but was only 20 minutes. then spent the rest of the time throwing up and sleeping - have to repeat radiation 3 more days before transplant. . . Z Z Z

Day -5

today was rough one. got more chemo - threw up everything - only thing that put a smile on my face was hot nurse Nikki - as you can see we are now on a first name basis - but I could have some problems with her since she put a big poster on my wall that said "I love the Red Sox" It's not easy being a Yankee fan up here!

Days -7 and -6

Hello everyone this will be my blog for the 2+ months that i am up here in boston at the Dana Farber Children's Hospital. Yesterday i was going to post however i did not get to it but today i will fill you in. I was admitted to my room yesterday and i must say the rooms are pretty small for a 2 month stay but i have to deal with it. The only plus about the room is that there is a computer in it. For electronics there is a vcr and my only question is do they even sell anything thats not a dvd now a days. There is also a lovely antique 13 inch television which goes great with the vcr. There is a weird lighting system like you can change the color of the lights and you can have a bunch of different combinations of colored lights, i don't get the point of it at all. But enough about the room lets get to the staff on the floor. I was checking out my room when my first nurse walked through the door and i wanted to shout out THANK YOU LORD! Wow was she good looking and sweet as could be. The rest of the nurses are extremely nice i knew i was going to get takin care of for the next 2 months. Today was really the start of things. I first had to get a catscan on my head they were checking to see for certain lesions. However of course it was clear because i am the man. Then they started my morphene pump when we got back to the room which is always excellent. i started out having fun with it and just kept hitting the button which really messed me up. So my mom filled me in later on what they had given me which was a blood transfusion. i then started watching the masters while they put my first bag of chemo up. Now i feel ok right now but my guess is the chemo will start kicking in tommorow and i will basically feel like shit. After the masters a new nurse came in who was also gorgeous and i found out that she is a die hard red sox fan which most people in this hospital are. i also found out quickly she is very sensitive about the sox and her and i started going at it about the sox and yanks. So after the whole fight she said ok you and i are gonna have a great 2 months. I knew she wanted my sculpted body from the start. Throughout tonight i will be getting fluids and thats it until tommorow i'll try to keep updating this as much as i can but the more sick i get the less im going to feel like doing it so i may have my mom do it on the nights i don't feel up to it but i miss everyone and hopefully i will talk to you all tommorow.