Harvest

On Friday, January 8, my brother Mike Vander Zwaag and our sons Lucas (17) and Josiah (10), came to Chicago to visit. Jacob(19) and Jaden (14) were too sick to come, so they stayed back with grandma VZ. On Saturday, Mike showed us parts of Chicago that we had not seen but that he is familiar with.

Then in the afternoon we went to Shedd's Aquarium.  PLEASE, if you ever visit Shedd's, buy your tickets online in advance. We waited an hour in line just to get tickets!!  But it was still fun once we got inside!

On Sunday we just hung out and then they headed home in the afternoon.  It was really hard not having all 4 boys there. We missed Jacob and Jaden A LOT! But having the others visit was just the encouragement we needed.

Also on Sunday, Keith started his Neupogen shots. These shots created new stem cells that do not know MS, they are also called infant stem cells. The shots also made the stem cells come into his blood stream so that when they harvested his stem cells it would just be through his blood and not bone marrow. On Wednesday, Keith had a lot of bone pain from the shots which just meant his bones were working hard to produce more stem cells. But he only had pain for a day, and by the next day, it was gone. PTL! On Friday, January 15, Keith's stem cells were harvested. He had a line placed in his neck at 7:30am. Then at 11am they had him hooked up and ready. The line in his neck and the machine that he was hooked to were the exact same I had when I had Guillain Barre. His blood was pumped into this machine, then it would spin the blood and separate the stem cells from the blood. The stem cells went into a bag and his blood was pumped back into him. In 3 hours they collected a whopping 9 million stem cells, in just 3 hours. BOOM!

The bag on the right that looks like applesauce are his stem cells. The bag on the left is plasma, they took some of that out too, not sure why.

His line was removed from his neck and we were on the road home by 6:30pm and home by 10pm. We couldn't wait to see our kids!!

Other than the bone pain for a day, Keith tolerated everything very well. He is feeling good and has even been riding his snowmobile at night. He needs to stay away from crowds, sick people, and no eating from salad bars, no moldy cheeses, and no meat, fruit or veggies that have been cut at a deli/store. And he has to wash his hands A LOT!

On February 3, we head back to Chicago for our final time there, Lord willing. Keith will have 4 days of chemo to kill his immune system once more, and the on the 9th he will get his stem cells back to give his immune system a jump start towards healing. He will be in the hospital the entire time and hopefully discharged by the 21st.

We are so blessed to have another part of the journey completed. Praise the Lord! He is so faithful. We thank God for all of you - our supporters, prayer warriors, friends - and we pray that He will pour a special blessing on each and every one of you! 

"I thank my God every time I remember you."

Ephesians 1:3

Mobilization

Mobilization is the term used by Dr. Burt's team, meaning: Mobilizing or moving your stem cells from your bone marrow into your blood stream. That is what we are in Chicago for this time. 

We left home on Monday, January 4 around noon. We missed a chest x-ray when we came in December for pretesting that needed to be done. So we knocked that out of the way and then unloaded all this into the hotel. 

Then on Tuesday, January 5, we were admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital at 7:30am and he was hooked up and ready for chemo by noon. Keith received a 2 hour dose of chemo to knock out his immune system, which won't be knocked out until about Tuesday. By 2pm he was up walking the halls. He took chemo like a champ! Take that MS-POW!

This was his room (#1671) at the hospital. We are hoping for a room on the west side of the hospital for our stay in February. Here is a picture of his room. Notice my little window seat bed. It was alright for a night, not sure how 3 weeks is going to feel.

Here is the view from the west side rooms; sunrise and Lake Michigan!

On Wednesday, January 6, we were discharged from the hospital to the hotel with orders to stay away from crowds, sick people, and wash your hands, A LOT.  

We are staying at the Hilton Homewood Suites on Huron St.  

View from hotel:  

 Our bedroom is separate so Keith can shut the door and rest if needed...and I can watch TV in the living room area without bothering him.

Our kitchen and living area are combined. We have a microwave, full fridge, dishwasher and stove! The couch pulls out into a double bed. Breakfast is included everyday and Supper is included M-Th. Breakfast is excellent and Supper has been decent too, although last night was Lamb, the soup and salad were good! Keith is glad that he doesn't have to leave the hotel to eat.

This morning after breakfast we checked out the exercise room on the top floor. It is really nice, lots of treadmills, stair climbers, and bikes and they each have their own TV attached to them! Keith pedaled and I walked. The view is outstanding! This was a nice break to the morning boredom. 

After a lunch of chicken soup, Tortilini soup, and banana bread (thanks mom!) in our room, I ventured out and went shopping. I first had to pick up some more prescriptions, Tylenol, alcohol wipes, antibacterial soap, and laundry soap, at Walgreen's. Then I went to The Water Tower Place, & H & M.  On my way I found a McDonald's, Chic-fil-A, Subway, and a Red Robin!  NORMAL FOOD...just in case. I think I'm finally able to navigate the streets without my map. And I only go during the daytime. Tomorrow I'm checking out Crate & Barrel. Everything seems really expensive, but it's fun to look and it gets me out of the hotel. :)

On Sunday, January 10 Keith will start his Neupogen shots. That is the medicine that will move his stem cells into his blood stream for Harvest on the 15th. He will have to give the shots to himself in the stomach.  We do not have to go to the hospital for that. And I think I will pass out if I have to do it. They say by Tuesday he will be feeling lousy, and may have some bone pain due to the fact that his bones will be working hard to produce more stem cells. They hope to collect at least 2 million stem cells!

Please continue to pray for good health for the both of us, and especially our kids. A few of them are pretty sick right now and will not be able to visit us this weekend if they are not healthy.  We are extremely sad about that, and I think they are too. I know the stress of all of this has a lot to do with it.  If they are able to come, pray for safety on the roads. My brother Mike will be driving them down and is excited to show them the city, if it all works out. 

We are so thankful to be given this opportunity. Giving God all the glory!