Day -1
I slept at home last night and Michoel needed to come home early to do some work. This left Yossi Chaim alone for a while. We thought that he was ok, because he didn't call. Before Michoel left the hospital Yossi Chaim told him that he was really weak and didn't want to get out of bed all day. Around 10:30 he called to ask me when I was going to come. He was becoming lonely, and wanted me to be with him.
When I walked in at noon Rabbi Ron was here playing (Star Wars) action figures with Yossi Chaim. He was in a really great mood and told me that today was going to be a good day. Yossi Chaim and I started to work on the 3-D puzzle my mother sent him (of the White House). This looks like it is going to be a fun project. (It is really awesome! Thanks, Mom!)
I went to pick up a special woman that I know, Chaya Teldon. She was going to be the guest speaker at Lubavitch, so I wanted her to come talk to Yossi Chaim. (She is an incredible person!) Chaya was able to spend a little time talking to Yossi. When we walked in the room he was really upset. He is feeling a lot of anger at G-d for making him sick. I also think that he might be angry with me (for not "taking care of him") because he was punching my hands and trying to push me away. He told Chaya that he is scared about the transplant. I am planning on having Dr. Yanovich talk with him tomorrow.
When we left, Yossi Chaim was crying that he wanted me to stay. I told him that I really had to get Chaya to Lubavitch, and we left. (Yossi paged me once while I was driving there.) Chaya was just great. She is a fantastic speaker, filling all of us with inspiration and joy. Towards the end of the evening, I got a lot of pages from Yossi Chaim and Michoel. I called Yossi, and he wanted me to come down and sleep at the hospital. I told him that I would, but I felt really bad because I promised the other children that I would be home when they woke up.
When I got to the hospital, he was fast asleep. As soon as he heard that I would come down, he became very calm, and went right to sleep.
Tomorrow is the big day. Please don't forget to fast and pray for Yosef Chaim ben Briendle Leah.
DAY 0
TODAY IS THE DAY! It is almost 11:00, and Yossi Chaim has spent the entire morning sleeping. His nurse asked me if he responds to stress by sleeping. At first I told her that he doesn't, but now I am wondering... Maybe this is his way of dealing with this? Well, after Dr. Yanovich speaks with him, I will let you all know. Thank you to everyone who is fasting for him. We appreciate it.
It's now 4:30 pm, and it's all over. I've read in a lot of places where people say that it is very anti-climatical. I felt that it was the exact opposite.
Around 2:30, Yossi Chaim picked his nose and it started to bleed. We had a hard time getting it to stop. He took a shower, and then Carol, his nurse, gave him his pre-meds for transplant (Benadryl and decgadron). Michoel arrived and Yossi Chaim was sooooo happy. Carol said that he didn't need the benadryl, he just needed Daddy.
Rick, the physician attending brought the bone marrow in. (Dr. Yanovich and Carol were in the room as well.) The donor sent a present for Yossi, a card, and a letter for us. As they were hooking up the marrow, we read the letter. (We are planning on posting it for everyone to read later.) It was a beautiful letter. (I started to cry.) The bone marrow took about 15 minutes to go in. The flush took another 15 minutes.
I felt so overwhelmed with all these emotions. It was finally over. He got the marrow, and didn't really have any complications. He is just very tired from all the worry. (Carol asked him why he slept so much this morning. He told her that he wanted to pass the time.)
Hashem should watch over the donor, and his whole family. If anyone is reading this, and you haven't had your blood tested- DO IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! 50cc of bone marrow, and this will G-d willing save his life! This man is a tzaddik (righteous person). He has gained the world to come in this small and generous act.
Once again, thank you all for all your prayers, good deeds, and charity.
Day +1
Last night (which was really still Day 0), Yossi Chaim got another nose bleed. This time we had a REALLY hard time getting it to stop. (I am not joking, we must have used a whole box of tissues.) Very late in the night, he got platelets (Thank you Sheila!).
Today, I woke up around 10. He told me that he had been up since 7, but he was letting me sleep! He is such a good boy, with a good kind heart. He asked me if he could come lay in my bed with me, and I was so happy. (My little ones do this at home every day.) After a long while, we got up, and began to work on his 3-D puzzle. We got the bottom and top finished, and left the walls for another day.
After I ate lunch, Yossi Chaim and I talked, read a little, and basically just hung out. Mr. Scott came down to visit him. Yossi and I took a nice long nap, and then Shabbos was over! It was a great day. Yossi Chaim was a little sad, and missing his friends, but overall he was in great spirits.
Grandma and Grandpa came down to visit Yossi Chaim, and after I got home, Michoel took Goldie down to visit him. Oh, By the way, Yossi Chaim's white count has completely bottomed out. He has also started to get some mouth sores. (This is all to be expected.)
Keep praying, giving charity, and doing good deeds for Yosef Chaim ben Briendle Leah.
Day +2
Today was a real quiet day. Ilene, Yossi Chaim's grandma stayed with him. His hemoglobin was down, so he got blood (thanks Rabbi Creditor!). He will get Mr. Dortch's platelets tomorrow, IY"H (that stands for please G-d). Yossi Chaim has started to get mouth sores both in his mouth and throat. They haven't started to bother him that much. Tina, his nurse, brought him a PSA pump (with morphine) but he didn't use it. When Ilene left, Fay came to stay with him. They had a very pleasant afternoon together. Of course, Papa and grandpa came down tonight to watch ... the Super Bowl (what else). (Comment from me-- BORING!)
Short updates are great! It means that things are going great! Keep praying for him ... he's not out of the woods yet! :)
Day +3
Once again, today was good day for Yossi Chaim. Grandpa stayed with Yossi all morning. They watched TV for most of that time. I came in the afternoon. Yossi Chaim did some math with the hospital teacher. We watched some more TV. Very late in the afternoon Yossi Chaim's throat started to hurt. Dr. Yanovich had them increase the amount of Morphine in his PCA pump. He was also given a suction thingy to get rid of secretions in his mouth. (It's like the thing from the dentist.) Yossi Chaim started to cry (from his throat) and he blew his nose. This made his nose bleed. This was right as he was getting Mr. Dortch's platelets. (Thanks!)
Yossi Chaim calmed down. He decided that he had to have some sucking candy. The ones we had here were too big, so Grandpa saved the day. He went and bought Yossi Chaim the ones that he wanted. While we were waiting for him to get here, we watched the movie Alaska. (Great movie!)
After the movie, Yossi Chaim took his shower, and we went to sleep. I love these pretty uneventful days!
Keep praying for Yosef Chaim ben Briendle Leah.
Day +4
Today started off kinda yucky. First thing Yossi Chaim did was throw up. Then his nose started to bleed a little. The throwing up made his throat hurt more, obviously. Although he was very uncomfortable, Yossi Chaim and I worked on the White House. We finished it, and we are quite proud of ourselves!
Yossi Chaim took a nap, and then he had another nosebleed. Yossi Chaim got more platelets. He ate an ices for dinner, the first "food" he's eaten in a while. Papa came to visit Yossi Chaim, and brought him a new Lego set. He also brought the package that Rivkah sent him.
Yossi Chaim started to draw a self-portrait of himself getting the bone marrow (to send to the donor). We listened to Rabbi Goldstiens tape, and we are all caught up on Parsha.
Keep praying, giving charity, and doing good deeds for Yosef Chaim ben Briendle Leah.
Day +5
Today was an excellent day for Yossi Chaim. Dr. Yanovich checked his mouth, and his sores are starting to get better. Dr. Y thinks that the marrow might already be starting to engraft!!!
Yossi had an ices for breakfast. Then he worked on his new Lego set that he got. Yossi also had a special visit from Linda, his home nurse. They had a great time. After that, we tried to read Yossi's email. (We are having a very hard time connecting through the hospital. Can't wait until he comes home and we can enjoy a 50K connection!)
As usual, I left at 3:00 to go home to the "little ones", and today Ricky Lanyi came to stay with him. (Ricky has totally rearranged her schedule to be able to come stay with Yossi Chaim EVERY Wednesday. It is a great help.)
My in-laws came down to see Yossi, and brought him all kinds of cool things. He got some new pillowcases, and a neat Star Wars toy. I got a break, as Michoel came to sleep with Yossi Chaim last night. Yossi Chaim is feeling pretty good, just suffering from side effects of radiation.
Keep praying for the little guy - Yosef Chaim ben Briendle Leah!
Day +6
Another hard day, but it really wasn't terrible. Yossi Chaim is very uncomfortable, because he is very itchy in personal places. He spent a lot of today itching and complaining. He was given Benadryl, and we are waiting for the skin doctor to come look at it.
Rabbi Ron came to visit Yossi, but he really wasn't up to playing. So Rabbi R read to Yossi Chaim from the Hardy Boys book. (Yeah, mommy didn't have to do it! I hate the Hardy Boys!)
That's about all for today. Sorry this is so short. Although the itching is driving him crazy, at least his spirits are still up! Keep praying for Yosef Chaim ben Briendle Leah.
Day +7
Once again, we thought that today was going to be a not so good day… Then we got a big surprise. Yossi Chaim's friends from Radiation came up to visit him. It really cheered him up to see Tim, Tony, Kristin, and Dineille (Yeah, I spelled it right!). Yossi Chaim was very happy to see them. It was so kind of them to come up here. (It does him a world of good to have visitors.) After they left, Martin Graham came to see him.
Soon after that, Tanya, the arts and craft lady came, and Yossi Chaim was able to paint the clay action figure that he made for the donor. He did a super job. It looks so cute!
Papa stayed with Yossi for Shabbos (Friday night and Saturday) Both guys fell asleep about 5:30. While Papa woke up after about an hour, Yossi took a nice 3 hour nap. At about 7:00 Papa noticed that Yossi's face was very red. Fearing a fever he felt Yossi's head. While his skin was cool, he was sweating profusely. They took his temperature and all seemed well. At about 8:00 his nurse, Norm, checked Yossi out real well and discovered a slow and irregular heartbeat! Norm called Dr. Yanovich right away and Dr. Y. came back in to the hospital for Yossi. They gave him an EKG and determined that this was all a result of low Potassium and Magnesium levels in his blood. They gave him those and by the morning his heart was just about back to normal.
Keep praying for Yosef Chaim ben Briendle Leah.
Day +8
Saturday morning Yossi had a chest x-ray. (He gets one once a week.) The rest of the day the 'boys' read, played games, talked and napped. Yossi Chaim had one visitor for Shabbos, Mrs. Shuman (the secretary from school). She brought him a new GI Joe, and a football guy. Yossi really enjoys people visiting him. (He takes after his mother in that respect.)
After Shabbos was over, Grandma and Grandpa brought Shauly down to see Yossi Chaim. It was good for both of them.
Although Yossi still cannot eat or drink, he does not complain. He has many restrictions, but he handles it all very well. Dr. Yanovich feels that Yossi is doing much better than average and we are very proud of him. He really feels very well and we hope he will be going home soon! (If there are no complications, he could come home as soon as Feb. 21st.)
This is the week that we have to start watching for Graft Vs. Host Disease (GvHD). Please continue to keep Yosef Chaim ben Briendle Leah in your prayers.
Older updates...
Oct. updates
Nov. updates
Dec. updates
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