Day # 7 Chemo is done

The Mohawk is still rockin'

Today I finished the R-BEAM high dose chemotherapy regimen! I thought by now I would have major side effects, but so far I am tolerating the chemo well.

Thank you everyone for the encouraging emails and phone calls. I feel like I have an army of people supporting me in this battle.

Inside my body my bone morrow is disintegrating. The white blood cells circulating in my blood will not be destroyed by the chemo, as I previously had thought. They will complete their life cycle and by Monday shall be put to rest. That is when I become at the greatest risk of infection. At that point on for nine days I will be extremely vulnerable to viruses and infection. Meanwhile the stem cells will be planting themselves automatically in my bones. They will multiply and eventually start making a new immune system. After that, according to the doctor, my immune system will be about seventy percent by our wedding in June. So, between now and then my immune system will be coming back to life. When I return home later this month I am allowed to have visitors and go for walks, but I will have to avoid crowds.