Joe’s Blog

Sixth Day in Hospital

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:10:53 -0500

Yesterday was a major recuperation day from the transplant. I slept most of the day and didn’t start waking up until evening.
The next big event we are waiting for is the old white cells to die off which will bring my immune system down to about zero for a few days. This is generally considered a very vulnerable time and also the highest likelihood of the more nasty side-effects. Once I am through that, the new stem cells are supposed to “reboot” and start making new healthy white cells. After that they say I’ll start feeling a lot better.
When the blood counts indicate that my immune system is doing good, they will release me from the hospital but want us to stay in St. Louis for a couple more days to monitor my progress.
We are praying that the chemo gets all the bad cells totally wiped out and that the new cells “re-boot” successfully.
Thank you for your prayers. We are doing good and taking each day at a time.

Fourth Day in Hospital

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:11:42 -0500

Today is the actual day of the transplant.
They call this “day zero” as the stem cells are reintroduced into my blood stream in a similar way they were taken out. From what I am told so far it should be a fairly low risk procedure but I will be on some sedation. I thought I’d get this blog in before I start sounding like Hunter S. Thompson.
After the transplant is completed, it is mainly a waiting and monitoring game to see how quickly the bone marrow is replenished and starts doing it’s job rebooting my immune system. They have a number of benchmarks to determine how healthy my immune system is and that is the signal when I can go home. I’ve heard a wide variety of stories including people going home rather quickly (about 15 days in hospital total). But we don’t want to get our hopes up that high. They originally said 3 to 4 weeks so well go with that for now.
As far as I’m feeling, just mainly fatigued but otherwise okay. Jayne is helping a lot. We bought a french press and some Starbucks Pikes’s Peak blend along with a couple of nice ceramic mugs to enjoy it with each morning. Ah, just a few creature comforts goes a long way.
Today is likely to be a long day but with the medications, who knows how much I’ll remember? My spirits are good and I’m not very nervous, so thank you for your prayers and fasting on our behalf.

Third Day in Hospital

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 09:37:39 -0500

It’s a bit early for a third day report. However, they are predicting the more serious side-effects will start kicking in today, so I thought I’d get in a few words before they do.
Tomorrow is what they call “day zero” which is when they will start reintroducing the harvested stem cells back into my system. The idea is to create a kind of “system re-boot” to tell the bone marrow to knock-off making bad cells and start making good cells. If the system “re-boots” and my immune system comes back as they hope I may get to come home a bit earlier than the original prediction. That would be wonderful but I don’t want to get my hopes up to high. At this moment all looks pretty good.
By tomorrow I should have been through the worst of the process in terms of discomfort. After that the main side effect they predict is fatigue. I haven’t felt much like playing my guitar but have watched a lot of videos on computer and played around on facebook quite a bit.
We haven’t had any visitors yet...I hope we didn’t scare you all off. Just give Jayne a call at 417-299-2290 first. However, we have had a flood of emails pledging prayer support and that is really helping. Thank you.

Second Day in Hospital

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:57:25 -0500

These entries are likely to be quite short. This is the second day of the heavy chemotherapy. I must say that so far it isn’t bad. Thank you for your prayers, they are working. I don’t feel great but on the other hand I’m not suffering with nausea like I was led to believe. I have one more day of the heavy chemo so keep up the prayer support.
John and Andy seem to be doing fine at their uncle’s house in Ohio. Today they spent the day swimming and learning how to shoot long-bow and cross-bow (at paper targets!).
Jayne has a fold out bed in my hospital room. She didn’t sleep very well so please prayer for her rest and health. I had hard time falling asleep so they came in with a big fat needle and I knew no more.
Just a mention on why the facebook blog entries seem crowded and some of the formating is goofy. Apparently, when facebook reads the blog off this page it doesn’t like some of the formatting codes and eliminates paragraphs and substitutes some punctuation. So if you read this on facebook and terms like *&#$ come up, it isn’t profanity, it’s mistranslated punctuation.

Joe’s Transplant Begins Friday, July 25

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:52:47 -0500

I’m scheduled to start the stem-cell transplant process on Friday, July 25. I will be in an isolation room on the 5th floor of the Siteman Center at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. The entire in-hospital stay is scheduled for three weeks, but that depends on how quickly my immune system is able to recover after the transplant.
Last week, the process of collecting the stem-cells involved being connected to a blood pump for 5 hours a day for 4 days. After the cells were successfully collected they were cryogenically frozen. Enough cells were collected for this transplant and for one more transplant in the future should it be necessary.
On Friday, the doctors will start with some injections of drugs to kill off the fastest growing cells in my body which of course includes the cancer cells in my bone marrow, but also the cells in my stomach lining, mouth lining, and hair. I’m told that the first week is the roughest week. When that process is completed I basically will be left without an immune system so my environment will have to be kept very sterile.
Then, the stem-cells will be reintroduced to create new bone marrow and encouraged to multiply with hormone injections. I will be monitored closely to be sure my blood counts are improving and that I’m not picking up any infections. The doctors hope for years of successful remission before further treatment is necessary, but of course we are praying for a miracle of complete healing!
I’ve appreciated everyone’s encouragement and prayers so much. I feel very positive going into next week and have a strong sense that God is going with me. I’m also grateful that Jayne will be able to be there with me through the process. I don’t know how much I’ll be up for entertainment, but we are collecting some DVDs, music, books...they are even encouraging me to bring my guitar!
Regarding visitors and phone calls, Jayne will be the gatekeeper on all that. Please call her cell phone at 417-299-2290 before visiting to see if it’s a good time. The hospital requests that no flowers or plants be sent due to the sterile nature of the environment. Cards and notes are of course okay.
Letters and packages can be sent to:
Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Guest Services / Patient Mail
Mail Stop 90-35-711
Attn: JOE ZICKAFOOOSE
4921 Parkview Place
St. Louis, MO 63110

I will also have my notebook computer with me and should have internet access so you can reach me by email: scotlandforchrist@yahoo.com or on facebook. I can’t promise to respond to every message but I will read and appreciate them all.
Again, depending on how I feel I will try to occasionally update this blog during the stay in the hospital.
Specific prayer requests:
Please pray for the effectiveness of the treatment and complete healing.
Pray for minimal side effects from the treatments themselves.
Pray for protection against infections.
Pray for our boys, John and Andy as they stay with Jayne’s brother in Ohio during our time in the hospital.
Pray for our finances. As you can imagine there is considerable stress on our funds as we go through this crisis.
Thank you all for your love, prayers, and encouragement. It helps more than you can possibly know.