It’s been a little over a year since I announced on here to the handful of friends that read this that my dad has cancer (multiple myeloma). Time for an update!

He responded pretty well for a while to the first type of chemotherapy, and for the most part, it was not a horrible experience for him, either. Just when the doctors were getting ready to start prepping for a bone marrow transplant (which usually results in the longest possible remission), the chemo stopped working, and the cancer started becoming more active again. So, they switched to another type of chemo, and now it’s almost time to start the BMT again.

My mom’s update:

It’s definite. Tim is getting the stem cell transplant (aka bone marrow transplant.)

He will get injections this weekend to stimulate stem cell growth. They will harvest the stem cells Sept. 5-6, after they give him a “central line,” all this so far as an outpatient at Moffitt Cancer Center. He’ll be admitted there Sept. 11, get a megadose of chemotherapy that will wipe out his immune system, and then on Sept. 13 he will get the stem cell (his own cells) transplant.

Tim will be an inpatient for two weeks, while they monitor the progress of his stem cell growth, and then he & I together will be out near Moffitt together in isolation for another two weeks, as he gets stronger. Hopefully, by the end of that time, they will declare his immune system strong enough to go home and keep recuperating there.

We are doing all this because so far multiple myeloma does not have a cure, and statistically a stem cell transplant is still the best way to get the longest remission.

So, here’s hoping! Once again, any and all prayers for us have been, are, and will be GREATLY appreciated!

Yes, thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated!