Room change

Eric's room sprang a leak in the night so he has been moved to E801.  He is doing great.

Don't blink or you will miss it

There is a lot of hype about the day a bone marrow cancer patient receives his bone marrow transplant.  It is called "Day 0" and "your second birth day".  Prior to the big day the patient has a round of very aggressive chemotherapy to kill all the cancer cells, which pretty much kills all their bone marrow cells also.  With the aggressive chemo comes a lot of other aggressive drugs to protect your body from the chemo.  At times Eric's IV pole has looked like an over-decorated Christmas tree with numerous IV bags and pumps taking up every available inch. 

Yesterday, Day 0, his second birthday day, Eric didn't have a moment to himself.  In preparation for the bone marrow transplant he had even more pills to swallow, IV bags to be hung, injections into his central line to be given, vital signs to be taken.  Every time Eric tried to take a nap something new needed to be done or his IVs would start beeping.  It was a long day.

Finally, after all the build up, at 6:00 p.m. the Red Cross representative came in with a large box that contained Eric's  bone marrow transplant.  He very non-dramatically pulled out two small IV bags partially filled with bright red blood.  Our nurse hooked one up to Eric's IV and in 10 minutes it was gone.  He hooked up the next one and it disappeared just as fast.  It was all over before 6:30! 

That's it?  It all happened so quickly that it was a bit anticlimactic.  I don't know why they call it a bone marrow transplant because it is not bone marrow and it isn't a transplant.  It is stem cells dripping from an IV bag, which makes it an infusion.  It was so unremarkable that Eric could have easily slept through it.

And yet, because of something that seemed pretty small and unremarkable, something barely noticed amid all the other medical interventions and interruptions going on that day, Eric's life has been changed.  The bone marrow transplant team make no promises, but if things go well Eric has a fifty percent chance of being cancer free in five years.  There will be some ups and downs along the way, but Eric's life has been extended.  Pretty amazing.


Eric said it reminded him of the various scriptures where we are told that things that may seem small to us are the means the Lord uses to accomplish amazing things.  Two of my favorites are:

Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 16:29 . . . And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.

Doctrine and Covenants 64:33  Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work.  And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

Happy Birth Day

Eric's mother, Joyce Olson, passed away almost a year ago.  She was an amazing woman.  I don't have room to list all of her qualities, but one that was very important to me was her generosity.  From the moment I met her she welcomed me into her home, her family, her life.  I never felt like an outsider, or even an in-law, but was always treated as a daughter.  Joyce had the ability to make everyone feel comfortable because she was so generous with her time, her attention, her love.

Eric is one of eight siblings.  One sibling has had cancer and was ineligible to be a stem cell donor for Eric.  Five were tested at LDS hospital within a few days of each other, and it was assumed that several would be partial matches.  With a partial match they could manipulate the blood to make it compatible with Eric's blood.  Not the best solution, but a manipulated partial match is better than no match.  To everyone's surprise none of the five were even close to being partial matches.  That left Debbie, who was out of state and having a hard time getting her cheek swab accepted by the BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant) clinic because of some bureaucratic mix ups.  They finally received her swab and were shocked to find out she was a perfect match.  So Eric isn't even close to partially matching five of his siblings, but is a perfect match with one sibling.

The interesting thing about Debbie is that of the five daughters of Joyce Olson, she is the only one who bears her name.  Debra Joyce.  And Debbie is just like her namesake in her generosity.  Debbie has a million and one wonderful things that she does to help others, but she took a break from them all so that she could be Eric's stem cell donor.  It has been expensive, time consuming, and hard on her physically.  And yet Debbie has cheerfully gone through a very tough few days and tried to laugh it off to make us feel better about it.  She doesn't want us to feel bad about how hard it has been on her or know how much it has inconvenienced her.

The BMT unit calls today, the day Eric received Debbie's stem cells, "Day 0".  They also call it the "second birth day" for stem cell recipients.  That is because it is the day they have another chance at life.  Almost 60 years ago Joyce Olson gave birth to Eric.  And today her daughter, Debra Joyce, gave Eric his second chance.  Giving birth is hard, something to be endured through the pain, but with the promise of a great reward afterward.  Eric and I are so grateful for the generosity of the women in the Olson family who have now given him two opportunities to live.

A small insight

In the New Testament there are examples of feet washing--either someone washing the Savior's feet, or Him washing the feet of his disciples.  I have usually heard these verses taught with the theme of repentance, humility, or service, depending upon who was doing the washing.  The person teaching the lesson almost always points out that only servants, the lowest of the low, wash feet. 

I have always thought there was a certain "ugh" factor to washing feet.  Feet are smelly, dirty, and fairly ugly.  No wonder only servants wash feet, and if anyone else chose to wash feet, they were doing it to prove a point.  It was distasteful and demeaning to them, but they would swallow their pride and do something for the greater good and to set an example.

Once Eric's cancer kept him at home, he started wearing flip flops instead of shoes and socks.  His feet quickly dried out and his heels began to crack.  One day Eric asked me if I would rub some lotion on his heels because he was in too much pain to bend far enough to put the lotion on himself.  I said sure, and several times a day I would rub either lotion or vaseline onto Eric's feet.

Last night at the hospital Eric told me that the nicest thing about his cancer has been me "playing around" with his feet.  It hit me that I didn't resent it all, and it wasn't distasteful to me.  I actually enjoyed it and would also rub lotion on his legs that were so dry and tired and painful.  I suddenly realized that I have been missing the point of the New Testament stories of washing feet.  The woman washed the Savior's feet because she loved him.  The Savior washed his disciples' feet because He loved them.  It wasn't distasteful, or demeaning, or something to be endured in order to make a point and set an example.  It was a gift freely given.

One week down, just a few more to go

A week ago Eric was admitted to LDS hospital.  Since then he has received five doses of aggressive chemotherapy, with the last one administered early Sunday morning.  He is now done with chemo.  Today and tomorrow there are not any scheduled medical events.  Wednesday Eric receives his stem cell transplant from his sister Debbie, who started receiving daily injections to stimulate stem cell growth in her blood on Saturday.

Eric is doing great. The anti-nausea drugs are really helping.  He is still walking his laps three times a day and is taking care of all of his daily needs on his own.  I have been so impressed with how well he has done! 

Thank you for your prayers!

And now we know the chemo is working

Eric has done amazing well through this whole cancer journey, including incarceration (I mean voluntary confinement) in a very small hospital room.  I never thought he would adapt so well to living in such a small space, but I guess fatigue, pain killers and sleep deprivation have helped immensely. 

In fact, he has done so well that on Friday afternoon, after having three rounds of killer chemo on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, we were beginning to wonder if the chemo was even working.  Then two of our sons joined us for a lovely picnic on Eric's bed.  They brought very fragrant Italian take-out which filled the room with an incredible aroma.  And suddenly we knew the chemo was working.

Stephen, Michael and I (and our lovely Italian take-out) were banished to the waiting room and the nurses rushed in with heavy duty anti-nausea medication.  Eric threw up several times, something he has not done for over 30 years.

So now we know.  The chemo is working.  Fortunately we live in a wonderful era of modern medicine.  The anti-nausea meds have worked great today.  Unfortunately they also put Eric to sleep almost immediately.  So we call the cafeteria and the nurse at the same time so that his food comes after the medication but before he falls asleep.  Eric has been able to eat something at each meal and keep it down, but he has slept most of the day.  The nurse told him he could choose:  vomit and stay awake, or keep food down and sleep.  Eric was amazed that he could just sleep through the days of nausea, so I am now married to Rip Van Winkle.

Eric has a self-imposed goal of walking three times a day for 30 minutes.  So even though the medicine was putting him to sleep, we did our walks.  First time I have ever seen anyone sleep walking.  And that is the truth.  Our nurse just laughed every time we passed her.

I just wanted to let you all know that we are doing great.  After a few months of not sleeping, Eric is now sleeping like a baby.  (Where does that phrase come from?  None of my children slept that great when they were babies.)  He is maintaining his weight, knows there are medications to control the nausea, is pretty much pain free, and is looking forward to hiking in southern Utah.

Eric's sister Debbie received her first injection today to stimulate the production of stem cells in her blood.  It was great to see her at the hospital today!  Wednesday is the big day, and we are so grateful to have made it this far with so few problems.  Thank you for your prayers.  We know we have been blessed.

So far, so good

Just a quick update to let you know that things are going well.  Eric had a dose of chemo Tuesday morning, and then another dose this morning.  He will have three more doses the next three days.  So far he is feeling better than expected.  His pain is well controlled, he is eating despite food not tasting nearly as good as it used to, and hasn't had any bad side effects from the chemo yet.

Eric has adjusted well to hospital life.  He is up early, showers and shaves, and dresses in his street clothes.  He takes three half hour walks around the east side of the 8th floor.  I thought he would be bored, but between medical attention, regular daily life, and the very welcomed visits from friends and family, our days pass very quickly. 

We both feel very blessed that things have gone so well.  As we have gotten to know the staff at LDS hospital we have been very impressed with their cheerful, "can do" attitude.  Thank you for your prayers on our behalf.  We know that they are being answered in numerous ways that make our life easier. 

The high dive was more like a jump into the kiddie pool

What one word sums up today?  Boring. 

We were at the hospital at 7:30 a.m., and getting there on time was the most excitement we had all day.  Eric received a unit of platelets before having the central line placement at about noon.  We were in his room at 3:00 p.m.  And it was as comfy as home by 3:30 p.m. The Bone Marrow Transplant team are all very nice and we have met several of the patients out on our walks around the floor.

Eric's room number is E808.  As I said, for the next few days it will be a little boring, so feel free to call or come by.  Just remember the ground rules:

Don't come if you are sick
Don't come if you have been around someone who is sick
Don't bring children
Don't bring flowers
Do call or text MaryLynn at 801 699-4152 to see how Eric is doing
Do bring a smile or dark chocolate

Thank you for all your kind words, thoughts and prayers.  Eric has mentioned numerous times that as he wanders from place to place at night he thinks about friends and family and feels comforted by those thoughts.

Tomorrow we jump off the high dive

Tomorrow is the big day!  Eric enters the hospital and won't leave again for 4 to 6 weeks.  It is a bit scary since this is all new to us and it sounds like it will be both challenging and boring.  But it is the first step on the road to recovery, so we are grateful that this day has arrived and we know that it will be worth it.  Many of you are just as clueless (cancer wise) as we are, so I am going to put down what we know, so far, that will be happening in the next couple of weeks.

August 19,  Day -9   Eric is admitted to LDS hospital.  They install a central line, which is "a thin flexible tube that is surgically placed into a large vein in the chest that leads to the heart and will have three lumens (or entrances) that will be used for administering fluids, chemotherapy, medications, and blood products."  Afterwards Eric will be given an anti-seizure medication, and that is it for the day.

August 20,  Day -8   Early in the morning Eric will be given his first dose of heavy chemo.  Afterwards blood will be drawn and sent immediately to a lab in Seattle where they will be able to analyze the chemo's effect on Eric's blood and decide the exact dosage that is best for Eric.  Pretty amazing. 

August 21,  Day -7   Rest day (no scheduled medical procedures awaiting Seattle results)

August 22,  Day -6   Two types of heavy chemo

August 23,  Day -5   Two types of heavy chemo

August 24,  Day -4   Two types of heavy chemo

August 25,  Day -3   Two types of heavy chemo

August 26,  Day -2   Rest day

August 27,  Day -1   Rest day

August 28,  Day 0   Eric receives the stem cell infusion from his sister Debbie.  They call Day 0 your second birthday because you get a second chance at life.  At this point Eric will basically not have any functioning bone marrow.  That means no immunity to infections, no energy from red blood cells, no ability to form blood clots in case of cuts or bruises.  Eric will receive multiple transfusions to keep him going until Debbie's stem cells start to form new bone marrow.  (An interesting piece of trivia:  Eric is blood type A+ and Debbie is O+.  Sometime after the stem cell infusion Eric will become O+.)  It takes awhile, so Eric will still be in the hospital for several more weeks until his immune system is strong enough for him to come home.

You can see from the above schedule that there will be a lot of down time.  For the first week Eric should be feeling okay, so if you are going to visit, do so in the first five or six days.  Just give me a call or text first to see how Eric is doing.  (801 699-4152)  I will continue to update the blog every few days so that you will know when he is starting to feel better after the stem cell infusion.

Eric's addendum:

I particularly like this quote from John Durham Peters, communications professor, from his book Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communications.  It captures from a slightly different angle my current perspective of the last several weeks.

"We are the great exception to the universe, the rare case, the completion of nature, the way the universe comes to self-consciousness.  The question should be, then, not how we break through the sludge of habit to rediscover the hidden strangeness of things, but how we ever managed to convince ourselves that anything was not a dissemination of intelligence.  Boredom is the amazing achievement, not wonder.  Our senses can catch only a narrow portion of the spectrum:  the cosmic rays, rainbows above or below the range of visible light or tectonic groans of the earth all elude us. . . .  We are immersed in a sea of intelligence that we cannot fully understand or even sense." 

Feeling overwhelmed

Let's start with feeling overwhelmed--the bad.  Today was "Educate the Olsons" day at LDS hospital.  WOW.  There is a lot to learn about cancer in general and bone marrow transplants in specific.  We met for an hour with one of the BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant) doctors and our coordinator.  They went over entire books (it seemed like) on procedures, medications, problems, scenarios, possibilities, and probabilities.  Then Eric had to sign his life away, multiple times. 

Then it was on to our meeting with a BMT nurse, who covered a lot of the same stuff and added more. 

Then it was on to our meeting with a BMT pharmacist, who covered a lot of the same stuff and added more.

Then it was on to our meeting with a BMT dietician, who covered a lot of the same stuff and added more.

After numerous hours of education we finally escaped.  On the way home we discussed our impressions, which were that the BMT team is AMAZING!  They are so knowledgeable, but very approachable.  They are very honest that this will be a challenging period in our lives that may last for years, but they also explained how experienced they are at treating all the various problems that may (and probably will) come up.  Eric and I feel like we are in good hands.

Schedule:  Eric is admitted to LDS on Monday, August 19 (designated as "Day -9" and they count down until "Day 0" which is August 28, the day Eric receives his stem cell infusion, kindly donated by his incredible sister Debbie.  After that they start into positive numbers.)  August 19 Eric has a central line installed for receiving chemo, IVs, medications, nourishment, and from which they can withdraw blood to test his body's reactions to all that is happening.  After receiving an anti-seizure drug Day -9, Eric will receive the first aggressive chemo early on Day -8. 

Visitors:  Eric can receive visitors anytime during the process, but there are restrictions.  No children are allowed.  All visitors must be healthy and not have been around anyone recently who isn't healthy.  Visitors have to scrub up well before and after being in Eric's room.  No live flowers or plants are allowed, so please don't bring or send any.  MaryLynn is accepting chocolate.  Weeks 2 and 3 will be the worst for Eric, so either come the first week, wait until a little later, or call or text me (801 699-4152) to see how Eric is doing before coming.

Let's finish up with feeling overwhelmed--the good.  Eric and I have been overwhelmed by the great kindnesses shown to us by friends and family.  We have been fed.  We have been entertained.  We have been prayed for.  We have had errands run for us and jobs done for us.  There isn't a way to adequately express how much we appreciate each one of you.

This past Sunday was exceptional.  Eric and I were able to skype or otherwise connect with all of our children and grandchildren.  We had visits from friends.  Two wonderful men from our ward (our local church unit) took the time to visit with us and bring us the sacrament.  Afterwards they gave Eric a beautiful and comforting priesthood blessing.  In the evening a very talented family came and sang hymns for us.  They sounded like angels.  It was almost more than we could bear to have such beauty and love in our home.

Cancer is crummy.  But every time we add things up, the positive outweighs the negative.  Cancer has given us the opportunity to be a bit more creative in finding things that are positive, but the blessings are always there if you look for them.  God lives, He loves us, He loves you. 

A word from Eric:   What has most impressed me in the past several weeks?  All the remarkable gifts that come installed with the physical body.  For the moment, I have been deprived of a small fraction of the gifts and it has left me in pain, without sufficient energy and a bit befuddled and severely limited.  It is as if I were living on a wholly different plane by an entirely different set of rules.  So much that I took for granted now seems the dearest of memories, albeit a bit improbable as I now function. 

So my recommendation, don't take a single free step for granted.  Give the deepest thanks to whatever power or grace to which you attribute your possession and use of the physical body.  Take care of it.  Be patient with those of us who move at a slower pace and operate with limitations.  Recognize that this body does not come with a guarantee and someday, in some way, the ground will shift under you as it did under me.  We are marvelous beings but our support and momentum derive from more than our will.  If you know that now, it will be ever so much easier to accept it later, when life whacks you in the face with this truth, as it inevitably will. 

Getting ready for the big day

I haven't posted for awhile because things have been pretty stable since the last post.  Eric is doing well for someone who has aggressive bone marrow cancer.  We continue to walk each morning.  Eric is able to stay on top of the pain and discomfort most of the time.  He is sleeping a little bit better and feeling a bit more hopeful because of it.

Tuesday we started the work up for entering the hospital on August 19.  We spent a good part of the day at LDS hospital.  By the end of this we may know our way around that extremely confusing hospital, something I never supposed possible.


At 9:00 a.m. Eric had a chest x-ray on the 1st floor. 
At 10:00 a.m. Eric had an EKG and an ECHO on the 7th floor. 
At 11:00 a.m. Eric had a pulmonary function test on the 6th floor.
At noon Eric had a unit of platelets on the 3rd floor.

Wednesday at 1:45 Eric had blood drawn for lab work (I think he told me they took 15 vials), followed by a full physical, and then a bone marrow biopsy, all on the 8th floor bone marrow transplant clinic.  We were both highly skeptical that they would be able to aspirate any bone marrow after the two failed attempts early on.  But to our surprise, they were able to do it.  The physician's assistant explained that it was probably because of the two rounds of chemo that Eric has had.  The chemo may have reduced some of the fibrous material in his bone marrow. 

I thought about posting last night, but it was late when we finally arrived home.  So we had leftovers for supper and fell asleep while watching a movie about raccoons that can transform into anything.  It is a sad commentary when raccoons transforming into humans to save the world can't keep you awake at 7:00 in the evening.

Eric's note:  It was especially gratifying earlier in the week to hear from former law firm colleagues around  town.  It is so nice to be remembered.  At this stage of all the pain and shrinkage, one almost feels invisible.

We have a date!

I am pretty excited that we have a date for Eric's admittance to LDS hospital to start his bone marrow transplant, but first I am going to bore you to tears telling you about our week. 

Eric's last day of chemo was last Friday, July 26.  Eric had a transfusion on Saturday at Intermountain Medical Center.  And Sunday was a day of rest--very appropriate!  This week was a "cancer lite" week since Eric wasn't having daily chemo infusions and we only had two appointments scheduled.

Monday we went to the cancer clinic for our first appointment, which was just to have blood drawn so they could test Eric's numbers.  He was a bit dehydrated so they kept him there and gave him an IV to perk him up.  His platelet count was low, so . . .

Tuesday we went to LDS where Eric had two units of platelets and one unit of blood.  His platelets were really diving, so . . .

Wednesday we had to go back to LDS to have his blood drawn to test his numbers again.  His platelets were good, but his red blood count was low, so . . .

Thursday (today) we went to the cancer clinic for our second appointment of the week.  The physician's assistant checked Eric and everything looked good, so we headed to LDS for two units of blood.  At the end of the transfusion they checked Eric's blood and discovered he is now low on platelets, so . . .

Friday we go back to LDS for two units of platelets.  This "cancer lite" week is wearing me out!

But since you have patiently read this whole pathetic blog post, you will now be rewarded with the date that Eric is going to be admitted to LDS for the real deal!  August 19!  Hooray!

In the meantime we have lots of appointments scheduled, with more being added all the time, for Eric to be poked and prodded and scanned and x-rayed and counseled and who knows what before the big day.

A big hooray for Debbie, who is also going to be kept very busy preparing for her donation of stem cells.  She will be on the road a lot between here and California, and we cannot thank her, and her family, enough for making this sacrifice on our behalf.  Please remember them in your prayers also.