Today is Doug's one year stem cell birthday. It is so hard to believe that it has been one year. We have so many fond memories of the other patients, caregivers, staff, nurses and doctors. Our time in Mexico was very special and hopeful for all of us.
And it has been quite a year, more difficult then we would have ever imagined. While we knew that recovery from a stem cell transplant might be difficult we had no idea our year would turn out the way it did. We don't know of anyone who has gone through anything like Doug has gone through. We don't even know if what he went through was directly related to the transplant. We had no clear diagnosis. We do know he went into acute respiratory distress, that resulted in being put on a ventilator, with multiple organ failure and finally paralyzed from poly-neuropathy which has taken him months to recover from.
Finally feeling better and moving again, almost back to his pre-stem cell transplant level, he was brought low with the kidney stone, kidney infection and sepsis. He was operated on, a stent was put in and we have waited for the stone to pass and for Doug to recover from sepsis. He is finally feeling better and after a month again with physical therapy and home health along with continuous antibiotics, he is now ready for surgery on Wednesday to remove the stone.
We pray that his recovery from the removal of the stone will be faster and easier than the previous infection and discomfort from the stone. We are ready for healing.
The good news, we can say at the end of this first year, is that we don't really see progression of the MS. Of course it is difficult to know, with trying to recover from the paralysis and now sepsis, but the decline that Doug was continuously experiencing previously looked different. He seems less fatigued. He is not dragging his left side the way he was.
Perhaps, for us, the next year will be the year we learn if the transplant was successful. The pilgrimage that was going to be a month long, has now turned into a year's journey. Indeed this pilgrimage to healing and wholeness has become a life journey. The pilgrimage continues.
God of Wonder, we wonder now what the months and years to come will bring. We wonder how our many friends are doing who have have been through HSCT for MS. We wonder if the progression of the MS has been stopped. We wonder. We are filled with thanksgiving at this holiday time, for all the people who have blessed us along the way. We give thanks for all the gifts of time and money that have brought us to this day. We give thanks for the gift of life and the opportunity to continue this journey, not knowing where it will lead, but trusting in your goodness each step of the way. Amen
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