Thursday February 10 "Wear Orange for Blye"

So what is weird about this I am writing this as we are going to bed and all of you are still in your day.  So to start our morning we had a wake up call at 6 and we pretty much beat the phone up.  We were up and getting ready this morning, while Mr. Blye was sound asleep.  It was nice to know that one of us was getting a good nights sleep, and it was the one that counted anyway.  So once we got him awake, he was starving and was ready to go and eat.  So down we headed and Grandpa and Grandma were waiting for us.  We finished breakfast and headed back to the room to pack all the stuff we would need for the day.  Reinhard was our driver for the day to take us to the Hospital.  So we had gathered our stuff and was just getting off the elevator as he was getting things ready to call up to us in our room.  So once Mr. Blye was loaded, we were on our way.  When we got to the Hospital we were escorted right away back to a room.  We did have to wait awhile before they came in to get him all hooked up.  Blye's IV stayed in the whole time we were gone, but it did try to block, so they did have to flush it when they were hooking him up, and anyone who knows what that feels like understands that he did cry.  After that they hooked him up to the Manitol we were having a hard time keeping him still.  Dr. Elsisi gave him a med to calm him down.  It really didn't make him sleep, but it kept him still.  I really wanted to ask him to take some home, but I knew the answer to that. ;)  With Mr. Blye now having the medication that calmed him, we had to move out of our room to an observation room.  All they really did was plug an oxygen sensor on.  So I can't remember how well I explained this before, but they give him the Manitol to open the blood brain barrier in the head.  It is used for patients that have Traumatic Brain Injuries to help decrease swelling, by allowing pressure and blood to move past the blood brain barrier for relief.  In this instance they open it to allow the stem cells to migrate where they are supposed to.  So once he finished the bottle of that, then it was time for the injection of his own stem cells.  Even now writing this to you my heart is racing.  When they brought those in, I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest.  The whole time we are waiting doctors and nurses are coming and going and mostly all the time speaking German.  I felt like what Blye looks like when he doesn't understand things.  So to say the least we all were a little in the dark for a bit.  So once all the vials were checked to see of Mr. Blye had his own stuff they told us how many we had.  For a baseline they really like to have at least 2 million cells to do a treatment.  Mr. Blye had 9,387,857.  So you might say there was enough.  The one thing that Dr. Haberland said was that the number of cells is great but the vitality is very important.  Mr. Blye was great in that department too.  He had 100%.  So to say the least the numbers were amazing.  They had two vials and they put them together to make 7.7ml.  They injected them right in the side port and started flushing with saline.  Once he finished his saline bottle, they came and checked to make sure that he was handling things ok.  We did have to wait about 2 1/2 hours after, because there was another family that was making things a little difficult for the staff and was occupying a lot of them as well.  So once they left we were able to see the doctor and go over reports. Mr. Blye received a certificate for being brave and we got a folder with all the results and information to take back with us.  After that we went and waited for their transport to take us back.  I have to say it was a good day for us, but I do NOT want to go through a day like that for a LONG time.  Once we got back to the hotel it was 4:00 and we were all STARVED.  So Gary and Grandpa took off to find supper.  We promised Blye chocolate, but he wanted chocolate ice cream, so off in search they went for food.  They came back with pizza, coke, of course ice cream, tortellini, and pastries.  It was a wonderful meal and we were stuffed.  After that we talked to family and then decided to take it easy.  Blye, Grandma, and I ended up watching "Despicable Me" and Dad and Grandpa went to sleep.  So once the movie got over, Blye crashed with Grandma and I right behind him.  I didn't want to leave you hanging, so I wanted to make sure and update.  SO the consensus is that we had a good day, Blye is well, no side effects, and he is sleeping soundly. I couldn't ask for anything more...Thank You God for blessing us and to you for asking him as well.  We Love You All.