Overdue Update

Sorry for the delayed update, we've had a lot going on since the last time I posted something! So, on Friday April 28th Josh finished the stem cell collection. His final collection number was 11.5, with 10-15 being the range they wanted him in to have enough for both collections. They had him get a PET scan on May 1st to see how things were going since it had been two months since treatment. Based on those results would depend on when they would admit him into LDS for treatment/stem cell transplant. They found that there was only a little growth in his tumors and nothing more to be concerned about so his admission date was set for the 7th. On May 3rd we had a final meeting with everyone under the sun who worked on the floor he's on. We meet with a social worker, nurse coordinater, doctor, physician's assistant, dietitan and pulmanologist (I feel i'm missing others). All the information and rules they were giving us was so, so, so overwhelming! I quit taking notes in the middle of our second meeting :/ May 7th rolled around and here we are 3 days into the process. On Monday he got 4 hours of fluid before they started his first chemo med. It is so super hard on the kidneys so they wanted him overly hydrated to keep them working. When the kids and I skyped him Monday night he said he was feeling surprisingly well.....until Tuesday morning. He was sick and throwing up but the piled on the nausea meds and he did really well the rest of the day. After his last med yesterday they unhooked all his tubes from his lines. Now it's up to him to keep himself hydrated until Friday when they will hooked they fluids back up. I could tell by the look on his face that he was so happy not to have to drag that stuip iv pole around with him for a couple of days! One of the things he has to do is get out of his room and walk around the halls at least 3 times a day. Once he gets going he just trucks right along. Last night we walked up and down the hallway for a good 20 minutes :) He got sick again early this morning, but felt well enough a little later to order some french toast for breakfast. Since all oh his counts are still pretty normal they said that he can go outside. He still has to wear his mask, gown and gloves (standard procedure whenever he leaves his room) but im sure it wll feel so good to feel the warm sun! So far, so good though! 3 meds down....5 to go in the next 3 days, and day of rest then they will do the stem cell transplant Sunday. ^ days later they will give him a shot that will help his white blood cells grow faster than normal. After that we just wait for him to recover enough to get to go home. He can have visitors, not tons at a time, but there are no visiting hours. It's just up to Josh and how he feels. He's always open to text messages and emails (joshjonesy@me.com) to keep in touch with the world. He may not respond right away, but will when he feels up to it. I don't want to post all his info on here, so let one of us know if you want to visit and we can make it happen :) Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the thoughts, prayers and support for our family. We are so blessed!!