Luther update

I'm not sure if I've blogged about Matt's Dad or not. He is currently at MD Anderson, in Houston, about to undergo a stem cell transplant. The process itself is kind of cool, the fact that he's there at all, is not!

We went to visit yesterday, because it was the last day the kids would be able to see him. Starting Tuesday he'll be in isolation and the kids won't be able to be near him for about a month.

It took us about 1.5 hours to get there, Payton slept about 30 minutes, Garrett watched a movie. When we got there, Luther had on a mask and gloves and I think it kind of scared Garrett, it took him a minute to warm up to his PaPa, but after a while he was fine. Both kids were a bit hyper, even for my kids! Luther was able to leave the floor, so we went to an area called "the Park" and sat where it was more comfortable. It was just a large open area with lots of comfy seats and foot rests and tables, there was a Starbucks kiosk, that was closed and a gift shop. Once Payton discovered the gift shop, any sitting was over, she was constantly trying to run in there. We were able to visit with Luther, Maryanne and Lindsay for quite a few hours, then we had to leave PaPa so we could get some lunch, he isn't allowed on that floor. Turns out his nurse was looking for him. We teased him that they are going to put one of those electronic bracelets on him that tell them when he "escapes" off his floor, lol!

We had to leave after lunch, the kids were just so tired. But we were able to see PaPa's room and meet one of his Dr's. Both kids slept all the way home, they were just beat!

Starting tomorrow, Luther will be given chemo for 4 days, the intent is to knock his immune system down to pretty much 0, and that's why he'll be in isolation. Sunday, they like to rest the body, so on Monday he'll receive his stem cells. The stem cells were collected from his brother, Everett Lynn. My understanding is they've been duplicated and it will be about an iv bag size full of blood, platelets and new stem cells. He will also start taking anti rejection meds. The nurses and Dr's have told him that he will feel like he has a case of the flu, fevers, chills, nausea, vomiting, all that exciting stuff, but that it affects every person differently, so until next week, we won't really know how badly it does affect him. And, for the most part, that's it. He'll be in isolation for about 30 days, and we hope and pray that his body accepts the new stem cells and starts replicating them asap. I also understand that the Dr's were able to extract enough from Everett for 3 treatments, so if need be, I guess they can repeat the process, but that hasn't been discussed much, so I don't know much about that.

so, now he needs every one's prayers, that the treatment works and that he doesn't feel the side effects too badly.