Day 16 Post Transplant!

Today was another good day! Jared continues to slowly be making progress everyday. This morning when Jared's doctors came and spoke with us, they explained that Jared had only pressed his pain pump twice in the last day!! This means that Jared is now completely off the pain medication that he can give him self through IV every six minutes. The doctors also decided that since he is doing so good and his mucisitious his healing so well they introduced him back onto many of his medications in pill form rather then IV. The doctors also decided that because Jared is trying so hard to eat little bits that tonight they stopped his IV Nutrition!!! These are three HUGE things that all happened today and it means Jared is just one step closer to getting out of the hospital! 

Tonight the nurse came in and unhooked Jared from his IV nutrition and then realized he had nothing else he needed to be attached to while he sleeps because everything else is in pill form so tonight he gets to sleep for the first time in 2 weeks with no big tubes hooked up to him! He is very excited! In the morning he will be hooked back up for fluids, but no more real medicine! 

Jared looking over the menu trying to decide what to eat ! Not his favorite part of the day. 

 Today Jared was able to eat a little bit more then yesterday, but it is still a huge challenge! Food tastes icky and feels weird in his mouth and tummy so it is not an enjoyable experience. He did try to eat several new things today, but his favorites are Jell-O and hot coco a weird mix but that’s what tastes the best to him right now. Now that he is off the IV nutrition we need to be careful about making sure he gets lots of protein in the next several weeks. Jared is being a good sport when I make him take "one more bite" of everything he says tastes icky. 

Jared tried some pancakes this morning! 

Jared is continuing to heal from his mucisitious and is in far less pain, but is still waiting on a few areas to heal up. Jared counts are almost pretty much normal and out of the scary danger zone. Jared is really really hoping to get out of the hospital in the next few days just for a change and to rest at home. The doctors just check in day by day so hopefully he will be released soon! Continue to pray for energy, strength to eat, and that he will just continue to feel better and better each day! 

Airborne is now my drink of choice because I am so scared of getting sick! 

Day 15 Post Transplant

 No real new news today on Jared's progress. Jared is continuing to try eating many different things. This morning he was able to eat an entire cup of Jell-O, and later he tried some milkshake and some pasta. The doctors told us today that the next 24 hours will hopefully be his last bag of IV nutrition; so hopefully in the next couple days his appetite will come back a little bit. It is a little scary to think of him going off the IV nutrition, because he might continue loose more weight due to not being hungry and nothing tasting good. Pray that he is able to eat healthy amounts starting pretty soon! 

Jared has barley had to use his pain medication button in the last day, so they might be changing that to pill form in the next couple days. Jared has started swallowing a couple pills already, so he is moving in the right direction. 

Today Jared's personality and attitude seemed really positive and back to normal, but his body has been extremely exhausted. I kept trying to try to take him on walks around the hall and he just was not feeling up to it. He did 2 laps, but pray that a little more energy can be restored. Jared is doing really well and is hoping to get out of the hospital in the next few days. He is very ready to go home and just relax! 

Update post Transplant day 14

Today was another good day. Jared's mouth has continued to be getting better, so now we are just waiting on the rest of his GI tract to catch up. Jared continues to not have a fever and they have stopped two of his very strong anti-biotics because he is doing so much better! Jared still has his pain pump, but has been using it far less then before. 

Even though Jared has absolutely no appetite, and nothing tastes good, he is encouraged to eat about 5 small meals a day of anything that sounds good at all. Jared is not quite to the 5 small meals, but today he was able to have a couple bites of tomato soup and grilled cheese, as well as a couple bites of clam chowder. These small steps are so exciting! This feeling of not wanting to eat anything and everything tasting weird is very common and could last for several months so Jared has to try to get used to eat not for hunger or taste but like its medicine he needs. This is very hard for Jared and really anyone to have to change your view on food so much. Jared is doing very well at trying his best! 

 Jared eating a few bites of dinner!!!

Another very exciting thing that happened today was Jared was able to take two pills by mouth. Jared has been unable to swallow any pills for the last couple days and today was his first attempt! He was able to swallow them both with some pain. It was very exciting! Jared has to be able to take all of his tons of medication by mouth before he can go home so this is an exciting step in the right direction. 

 Jared ready to take his pills! Then YAY he did it!  

Overall, Jared is doing well, he is able to walk without loosing his breath as well as trying to eat and take his pills. Jared's counts have been going up and up each day!! Pray that everything just continues to get better and easier! 

Update Post Transplant Day 13!

Yesterday was Jared's 13th day post transplant and it went really well! Jared's counts have continued to go up tons! They are starting to get close to the low end of normal, hopefully in the next couple days they will continue to get better! 

Jared made huge progress yesterday and was able to have 5 bites of chocolate pudding as well as drink some 7up! This was so exciting and a huge step to be able to get better enough to leave the hospital. It is common for people to not think food sounds or tastes good for a long time after transplant, so it is challenging for Jared to even want to try to eat, but he is doing good and trying. Jared also was able to do 7 laps of walking which is the most walking he has done in weeks! 

The doctors are very pleased with Jared's progress and hope to slowly take him off the IV nutrition and pain medicine over the next few days. Jared's throat is still very painful, but is still continuing to get better every day! Not a lot has changed, but Jared's personality is continuing to come back along with his sense of humor so that is fun and exciting! Continue to pray that he can keep eating and continue to feel better! 

Update Day 12 Post Transplant

Today is another happy day! Jared's Counts have doubled again and his mouth is feeling a little bit better! He can still not drink or eat, but they hope that hey will be able to start drinking in the next 2 days and the eat a couple days following! Jared's GI track is still needing some healing, but slowly it is feeling a little bit better! Pray that Jared's mouth and throat continue to get better and in the process don’t make him to nauseous, with all the scabs and skin being swallowed. Jared is now starting to get really excited to be able to eat and drink and has already been picking out the meals he would like me to make him once we leave the hospital! 


Jared has been extremely exhausted all day, and requires lots of sleep to rest up his body, but his overall energy to talk is coming back. Jared was able to go on a short walk today and take a shower, these activities wiped him out but it was good progress. Today they did some more tests, and we do not get the results back till sometime tomorrow so in the time being we get to dress up in my favorite outfit of a gown and gloves. 

 My Mom and dressed up to spend time with Jared. 

Not a lot of new information today, he is doing very very similar to yesterday. Pray that his counts continue to rise and healing continues to happen throughout his entire body! 

Day 11 Post Transplant Update!

Today is a short but sweet update on Jared's progress! Jared woke up this morning feeling a little bit better then yesterday! I knew this because as I was waking up his nurse was in the room and Jared cracked a joke about how bad my hair looked.... I knew then that he was feeling better. While he has been sick his sassy remarks and funny jokes have not existed.

In the middle of the night last night Jared's fever finally broke!!! He has had a normal temperature all day and if felling a little more comfortable. The Doctors also told us that today Jared's Stem Cells Transplant has engrafted! Engrafting is when the stem cells that you got back in transplant are finally doing the right thing and his counts are coming up! His Body has finally accepted his cells as part of his system. This obviously is very important to have a successful transplant, and very exciting!!! Jared was very thrilled with this news, it is always good to hear that all the horrible things you are doing are paying off and you can see that you will be healthy soon! He is still pretty far from the normal levels, but they go up tons each day! 

Jared's mucisitious is still really painful, but it is getting better! A few days ago when I got to look in Jared's mouth with the light, I seriously felt like crying it looked so painful and claustrophobic! Today I looked again and it is looking so much better! You can see his tongue and the soars are not as big. Because his mouth all the way through his GI track is pretty much destroyed from mucisitious, now that its is trying to heal all the scabs and gunk are falling off making Jared very uncomfortable. He has had some moments of panic because he feels like he is choking on all the icky stuff. The doctors say that it will get better every single day! 

Through this whole process Jared has had several allergic reactions and things, but today a weird little rash broke out all over his body. It is not painful or itchy, but they don’t know what it is from so pray that it can just clear its self up! Most things that Jared is experiencing are painful and annoying but so much better then a few days ago! We are thrilled at his progress and that the transplant is working! We feel so blessed to have so much support during this process! Thank you everyone for reading my blog and praying for Jared every single day! Thank you to the people who have sent emails, called me, and brought me treats! We are so grateful for the support and prayers! This is the scariest thing that I hope I ever have to do, but everyone’s love and support has really helped me to be strong and be able to help Jared through this Journey! Continue to pray for a fast and full recovery for Jared! He is Amazing and I am so grateful for him! 

 The Floor we are on put up some christmas decorations today! Very Exciting! 

Update Post Transplant Day 10!

Thank you for all your prayers yesterday, Jared was able to sleep most of the night last night! I was very worried when bedtime rolled around because I was so desperate for a good night sleep after a few no sleep nights. When the nurse came in and did his 11pm vital signs they were the best they had been in a few days, his blood pressure was not scary low, his temperature was not as scary high, and his oxygen level was perfect! The nurse and I were so excited that we literally did a happy dance for 10 seconds. Jared was really exhausted and was able to sleep through the night besides every other hour bathroom breaks (They pump fluid through him all night to try to keep his temp down, but makes it hard to sleep peacefully!) I was very happy to sleep! 

The last several days have been so hard, like so hard you just want to sit and cry, because you feel like it will never be over. Last night I lay in bed praying and praying that somehow I would gain strength or that Jared would just get a little better, so I could see the light at the end of this tunnel. So at 9 am I woke up and hear people talking, very confused I rolled over to find Jared and the nurse chatting, this was exciting because the last several days he has barley spoke due to the mucisitious and pain in his mouth.  The nurse informed us that all of Jared's counts had doubled again! All day Jared has been in a lot of pain still from the mucisitious, and also pretty nauseous, but he has just felt a tiny bit better today and was able to talk to me a little more and  was not as sedated as he has been the last several days. Jared was able to go on a small walk up and down the hall way as well as take a shower! These small things brought me so much Joy, and I know that everyday slowly he is going to feel a little bit better.

Over the last two days Jared has had some really good friends be able to visit, yesterday his friend Jared and his family stopped by, and today Cody and Jessica were able to come by for awhile. Seeing friends from NNU really makes us extremely excited to go back to Nampa in January! We cannot wait to go back to school and finish up and just feel normal again! 

 Jared is still in pretty extreme pain, but just the small extra amount of energy Jared had was very exciting! I asked Jared if he wanted me to say anything specific tonight and he said: "Ask people to keep praying that I can make it through this last part fast, and that my counts will continue to go up and my mucisitious will disappear FOREVER!" 

Jared still had some facial hair today, but it was falling out and bugging Jared. He can shave right now because of infection and stuff, so I pulled it out! It was completely painless for Jared, it just came right out. 

Post Transplant Update Day 9!! Happy Thanksgiving!

Last night was another awful night for poor Jared. He was up most the night between barfing and his hallucinations. He does say some pretty funny things, but it is also very scary to watch someone be so out of it for so long, and so uncomfy from such a high fever. 

 Jared with his little Barf Bucket. 

This morning Jared's doctor came and talked to us and his counts have started to come up!!! They are still super duper low, but no longer at zero!! Jared is very happy and excited about this because it means he should not get any worse only better! Today they have been able to keep his fever a little lower then it was the day before, but it is still much higher then they would like. This morning Jared was given a couple more blood transfusions, these will hopefully help the recovery process, but because in the past he has had so many allergic reactions they give him pre medications of a lot of benadryl so he has slept most the day. He continues to get super nauseous whenever he has to get up to go to the bathroom, and has continued to be throwing up quite a bit. Overall it was a pretty simple day, with no good or bad exciting points. 

Today Jared's throat has been hurting a bit more, but in a sort of different way. They suspect that the mucisitious is starting to slowly try to heal and so it causes some more discomfort. I feel like my blog is always me just saying all the super sad things that are happening to Jared, hopefully I will soon be able to write more happy and exciting news as he starts toward his journey to feeling better. The doctors still say he could be in the hospital for another week or longer, it is just unknown. Pray that tonight Jared can have a goodnight sleep, with less pain, nausea, and no fever! 

Today and everyday I have so thankful for Jared. He is so brave and strong, I am so lucky to have him!

Post Transplant day 8!

I am still a day behind in my blogging so I am trying to catch up today! So here is an Update on Jared from yesterday Wednesday November 21st, he is eighth day post transplant! 

Every single day I tell Jared "Don’t worry today has got to be the worst day" well I wish that I was right, but yesterday much like the day before was pretty awful. Tuesday night was as far as I covered last blog post, that night was pretty hard for Jared, we were up pretty much all night long. Jared had a few major things happening extreme nausea and vomiting, He was also  was hallucinating really badly, as well as  his temperature was almost 104 degrees. Jared becomes extremely nauseated almost every time he gets out of bed to go to the bathroom,  he gets dizzy and then needs to vomit. This continued all through yesterday. His Temperature has been very high still for the last several days and nights, it makes it almost impossible for Jared to sleep because he is so uncomfortable. Tuesday night was also when his hallucinations began, it all started with him hearing loud Jamaican music that was keeping him awake from another hospital room. Because he is on so many medications he is so sedated that he cant really separate the real world from his dreams, so all through the night he says weird things really loud and asks me weird questions like last night he turned to me and said "I am not sure If our deal about breeding our race horses is a good idea?" Yesterday He also told me he put three little pigs in my chair so I need to be carful when I sit down so I don’t squish them!  In the middle of the night a very serious doctor came to check on him and Jared seemed very upset, the doctor asked what was wrong he continued to tell that Doctor that I needed wine! That I have asked everyone and no one will bring me any! I was so embarrassed!!! I told the doctor I don’t drink wine and he just looked at me funny, like I was the one being crazy! It is very scary to watch Jared be so not himself, but the doctors say it’s almost better for him to just sleep through this really rough part.

The Nurses and Doctors have been wonderful and answer all my weird impossible questions on a daily basis. I tend to love to ask questions like when is Jared going to be better? that is an impossible question because every person is different, and they cant say something that could not be true. Whenever something weird happens, or Jared's Temp goes up, or he says something funny I am constantly asking "is this normal???" I don’t think they have a "normal", but they always comfort me and say we have seen think lots before or something like that. So my point is all the symptoms that I described Jared having above are pretty "Normal" for people on so many medications and that are so sick. They say that these last two days really should be the worst days and Jared should be going up from here! 

Keep praying for Jared's strength and patients as he hopefully will start to feel better over the next several days! 

 Jared fighting off his fever! 

 Jared hooked up to all of his medicine. 

Post Transplant Day 7!

I wrote this post last night on Tuesday November 21^st…but forgot to post it!

Today has been one of the hardest days so far for Jared. He started off the day pretty good, he woke up and was very alert and happy and feeling "ok". Around 9 am Jared woke me up freaking out and talking really fast and not really making sense. He kept saying "I'm so sorry I am panicking!" he started breathing fast and this continued for about 10 minutes. The doctors came and checked him out and said he had a pretty bad panic attack that could be triggered from the pain medication he is on, because he is having so much or just the pure stress of everything going on. 


Jared's Temperature continued to get worse and higher all day today. Around 11am the doctors started him on a new anti-biotoc and again Jared had a pretty bad reaction. This one was pretty scary! The reaction he got is called “Red Man Syndrome" His head, face and neck turned bright flaming red and was painful and extremely itchy. They gave him some medicine fast and it slowly went away, but was very uncomfortable for poor Jared.  Right now Jared is trying to sleep but cant because of his 103.5 temperatures. This is pretty high for anyone but especially for someone with no immune system and is facing all these other issues as well.

Since Jared's reaction to the blood transfusion yesterday morning Jared has been very very itchy. Because his counts are at zero when he itches his skin it breaks the blood vessels and makes huge marks all over his body. He got a lotion last night that helps the itching so we apply that every other hour about. Another common thing for post transplant patients is for their skin to brake down in some places, so his armpits, behind his knees, and groin are just raw. 

Jared's throat and mucisitious issues are also still really really bad (I made the mistake of looking in his mouth with a flashlight.... out of all the really icky things I have done this last month that I never thought I would be able to do this was by far the worst. I seriously cannot imagine how much pain he much be in and how claustrophobic and just horrible his mouth pain must be. Everything all the way to his tummy and through his intestines has big soars and is extremely swollen and shedding skin...Sorry if that is to graphic but its the truth.) I feel terrible sitting by Jared's side, as he is so miserable and in so much pain even after morphine. He is so brave and so strong because if I was in his shoes I don’t know if I could handle it. 

Tonight has been the worst for Jared and also for me. You feel completely helpless as a caregiver when he is in so much pain and so uncomfortable. Over this entire Journey of two years ago finding out Jared had cancer all the way to today people have been extremely kind and encouraging. One thing that haunts Jared and I is that people always tell us how cool of a story we will have and how we are going to impact others through it. This is something several people have told us in different ways and words and it haunts us not because we are angry that this is happening and that this is our story but because we hope that when this is all behind us that we live up to these peoples words. Everyday I wonder why us? How was Jared a healthy 21 year old diagnosed with CANCER! Cancer is such a scary word, and now we are living it. I don’t ask these questions or say these things because I am mad at God or I feel its unfair, it just really is to me at least, a crazy story. I don’t know why this is our story? But Jared and I pray that we will be able to use this horrible experience for good in some way. We talk about the lessons we could be learning like.... Because this happened to us when we are so young we know that we are going to not take our life together for granted, and live it to the fullest starting now. We just pray on horrible nights like tonight that some how this story will help someone or help us in someway. We know God has a plan and we are not in control so we are just holding on tight for now! 

My Grandma Dianne has always put this verse in my birthday cards, graduation cards, and on other things. I have always liked the verse, mainly because it is encouraging and I have had it memorized since I was little. I think that this is a verse that has been popping up my whole life because in this time that is the scariest and the hardest that I pray I will have to experience for a long time, this verse brings me comfort and is one that I say to Jared when he feels his weakest. 

Jeremiah 29:11-13
   For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.
   Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your
 whole heart. I will be found by you, and will bring you back from captivity.

Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to pray for Jared hopefully these are the worst days and he will be improving soon! 

 Putting Jared's Anti Itch lotion on. 

Post Transplant Day 6!

Today, Jared woke up feeling a little better then he has in a few days, after two full days of the IV nutrition his body is not as weak as it was before.  His mouth is in more pain every single day, and as it continues to get worse they up his pain medication so he can manage it on his own. This morning Jared decided it was time to just get rid of as much of his hair as possible, because he lays in bed all day and its all over his sheets and pillow. Jared's nurse cut his hair as short as she could without shaving it (They cant shave his head because the risk of cutting his head and getting an infection). He looks good and is now more comfy. After his hair cut he even had enough energy to take a quick shower, which surprised the nurses! After his shower, he had to get a red blood cell transfusion, which is very common among transplant patients. Jared has never been given red blood cells before, but he has gotten platelet’s twice before and each time has had a strong reaction and he breaks out in hives. The doctor explained almost no one has a reaction with red blood cells, but they would give him some pre meds just incase. About half way through the transfusion he broke out in pretty bad hives all over his body (much worse then when he had a reaction to platelets). Apparently Jared is pretty sensitive to the chemicals in the preserved platelets, and when he is given blood, if the donor was exposed to anything Jared is allergic to, then it is possible for Jared to have a reaction!

 Jared before his haircut! 

                                                        Jared's Blood Transfusion

All the fun stuff being pumped into Jared..... 

All of the tests that Jared has had so far have come back negative of infection! Jared's temperature is still very high, but they are watching him carefully. They take new blood samples every time his temperature spikes so pray that the results continue to be free of infection! Jared still is pretty itchy tonight but he just got a prescription for some cream that seems to be helping! 

Jared was able to do one short walk this evening down the hall and back! 

It is day 6-post transplant and Jared is still high in spirits! He hopes to be out of the hospital a week from today! That is his goal! Even though it might very well take longer. Thank you for your prayers and support! 

Post Transplant Update: Day 5

Today was Jared's 3rd day in the hospital. This morning started off pretty bad, Jared was in extreme pain from his mucositious as well as some tummy pain because he had because he had the IV nutrition all night and his tummy had to adjust to having food in it for the first time in a few days. Around 9 am they gave him his pain medicine now with a button, so he can push it up to every six minutes as needed. This has made it a lot easier for Jared to stay on top of his pain that made him so uncomfortable.

Jared slept for most of the day because his body is so weak it needs extra sleep to recover and feel better. His temperature was still pretty high today so they did lots more blood tests and we are still waiting on the results. Until we find out I have to wear a gown and gloves at all time... It’s a little annoying but it is to protect other people on the floor from any possible infection Jared might have. Jared is so ready and excited to feel better. Today was a very hard day, his mouth hurts so much that he does not talk very much and try’s to sleep through as much of it as possible. 

My cute new outfit

This entire process, is something that we were excited to have happen over the last several months. Jared and I felt that we were prepared for everything that was about to happen a couple weeks ago. Now that we are at that place, I did not realize how hard this really was going to be. I feel like God really did bless me with peace and strength through all of this because now as it is happening it is hard to watch someone I love so much be in so much pain and suffer so much. A Transplant is a huge thing! It is not that I did not realize this, but now that he is recovering from this I have realized how huge this really is and how lucky we are that Jared could have this, and now live a long and healthy life. 

 Jared with TONS of blistex on his lips while sleeping. 

Today is the first day for Jared's hair to start falling out again. When he woke up this morning he had loose hair all over his pillow. Within the next day I am sure it will all be gone! So not a lot of new information, but he is being very brave and strong! Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully he will feel a bit better! Thank you for your prayers! Continue to pray for Jared's health and recovery! 

Post Transplant Day 4 Update

This is not a huge update of any kind, the last day has been pretty slow and uneventful (Thankfully!). Last night was Jared's first night at the hospital and it went pretty well. Since he was admitted his temperature has been flirting with the "danger mark" this mark is 100.9 degrees, once it hits this spot they have to check for infections, do x-rays, blood tests, and stuff like that. They kept a close watch on it, and it has finally reached that mark just this last hour. They did some blood tests and he is getting a chest x-ray right now, and he will start a new antibiotic. This is not uncommon at all, they expected him to get a fever and these tests are standard procedure. Jared is still unable to eat, so tonight they are starting him on IV nutrition and that should help a lot. Today his counts are seriously close to zero and will for sure be by morning if they are not already, so its all uphill from here :) One nice clever little thing that the nurse gave him today is a suction wand thingy, like you have at the dentist. When people have mucositis like Jared does they have tons of extra salvia in their mouth, so this helps a ton! 

Jared Using the suction 

Over the last two days we have had a wonderful day nurse, that is very sweet and right about our age. It makes it all feel a little more comfortable when you can relate to your nurse. We have also had two really good night nurses, so our stay this far has been about as enjoyable as it could be considering everything.... Jared is still positive and excited to have his counts at zero, because it means they will start going up within the next week. 

Last night I mentioned my amazing chair/bed, it really is a very creative design, but extremely slippery! While I am sleeping I feel like I’m going to slide right on the floor. I have been watching Gray’s Anatomy and Boston Med all day on Hulu, trying to learn all my doctor talk! 

Jared is doing well, as we are taking one day at a time! Thank you for your continued prayers!!!

 Carin Brought Us a new Flamingo named Go Go! 

Jared's New Home: UW Hospital

This morning we went for Jared's normal appointment at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. On the way to the appointment, Jared informed me that he was not going to go home and he was ready for the hospital! We got to the appointment and the nurse asked about his mouth, and his pain level, and how much he has eaten and she agreed that it was time to make Jared's new home the hospital at least for a week or two. Jared's counts have finally dropped to almost zero, his mouth is very painful and very swollen, this makes it nearly impossible for him to eat and take his pills. Jared is very excited to be at the hospital, he feels safe and is happy to have all IV medications and in the next couple days they will probably start IV nutrition so he won’t even have to try to eat. They have been able to keep his nausea under control and his pain down. He is still very exhausted, but I think feels more secure in this new environment. 

Jared was very happy to be in his hospital room! 

Tonight he has been having a fever, so if it continues they may do some tests to see if they can target the infection. This is all very normal. I am staying with him at the hospital in an amazing chair that makes into a bed, so far it seems pretty comfy but we will see in the morning. Because Jared's counts are pretty much at zero they will keep him in the hospital until they start to go up. They guess that this will be around day 10 to day 13, we are on day 3 right now so he will be here for a while. 

Pray that his fever does not get worse and that he does not get any infections in this fragile time. Jared is so excited to get through all this, and his attitude today has been back up and positive! Thank you for your prayers and continued support! We love you all! 

 Jared & his owl Hootsie. 

The Momma

Hello family and friends -
Today I (Momma T) am writing to you from the University of Washington hospital.  Jared was admitted this afternoon due to his blood counts being down to zilch.  His fever is climbing and he just feels blaaaaah.  I want to share with you the incredible load Stephanie has taken on with Jared's illness.  She has been an angel!!  I marvel at the incredible gift that Jared and our family has been given through Steph and the rest of the Rotter gang!
As a mother, I feel so useless.  Watching your child go through all this is horrible and you just want to be able to go through it for them.  Alas, God has his plans and, once again, they do not line up with my own.  BUT, for every trial God throws in my path, he also yields unending blessings and Stephanie has certainly been one of them!  I have never heard a word of complaint, an ounce of "why me" or a pinch of doubt that Jared's road to recovery will falter.
Please continue to pray for Jared and Steph so that they may find peace through this process and experience a wonderful wedding coming up!  We are all looking forward to this momentous ending of Jared's pain and beginning of their lives shared together.

Post Transplant: Day 2

Since Jared's transplant on Tuesday it has been a pretty rough couple days. Jared has been in a lot of pain, extremely nauseous, and completely exhausted. Yesterday was a very hard day for Jared both physically and emotionally. Throughout this entire process, Jared has been very positive but these last couple days have really tested his positive attitude. Watching Jared be so unbelievably uncomfortable breaks my heart. He has not been able to keep barley any food or nutrients down, and has been sleeping most of the day. We had a nurse come to his house and she taught me how to do IV fluids at home. So everyday he gets 1000 ML of fluids at home, to help him stay hydrated. We are thinking that Jared will go into the hospital in the next couple days, his mouth is getting soars, and is very swollen and that will just continue to get worse. He can’t continue to not eat, as well as if he gets a spike in his temperature ever. As weird as this may sound Jared wants to go into the hospital, just to feel more secure and be given his medications through IV. We go to a blood draw and a appointment every single day so one day they will just tell us its time to go to the hospital, so we will see what happens. 

Tonight when Jared was feeling pretty terrible and pretty low, he asked to me to blog and tells everyone to pray for him! He thought it might be helpful to tell you what he really needs prayer for right now. This is the list he gave me....

• Strength both mentally and physically (he feels very low because of how terrible he feels and the idea that this could continue for a few more weeks in terrifying)
• That his mouth will not continue to get worse, and that the swelling will go down
• To be able to have a peace and positivity

These were a couple things he said, but just please continue to pray for continued recovery and that while his counts continue to drop that he will not develop any infections. Jared is so strong and so brave and I know he will get through all of this, it is just no fun right now! 

This is his I dont feel good face! But he still has lots of hair! 

Happy Birthday Jared!!!!

 In case you are confused, today is not Jared’s actual birthday, the day he was born. Today is his new extra special birthday, November 13^th, which will be a new day that we get to celebrate for the rest of our lives. Today is Jared’s Stem Cell Transplant day. He is having his auto-transplant and all the stem cells that he had collected a few months ago are being put back into his body. They call this his birthday because the chemo he has been given destroys all of his bone marrow and then they give him back his cells and new baby bone marrow grows back. His body is starting fresh like he is a new little baby. Over the next year he will get all the basic vaccines that you get when you are a baby. So today is a happy day!

We arrived at SCCA in the dark early this morning and Jared had a normal blood draw and then we headed to have him set up to get his transplant. This consists of several hours of hydration before then the transplant then five more hours of hydration after. Jared was extremely nauseous all morning. It is so hard to watch him be so uncomfortable, but he was a champ and suffered through the pain. Around 11:30am a lab blood specialist came into Jared’s room with his stem cells. When they collected his stem cells several months ago they froze them. She brought them into the room frozen with a large machine/bath and she defrosted them right in front of us. Before she arrived Jared’s nurse Kelly gave him several super strong nausea medications through IV as well as painkillers. The actual process of the transplant is fairly simple. They hook the bag of stem cells up and they slowly drip back into Jared. One very common problem that people experience during this process is a reaction to the chemicals that the stem cell’s are frozen and preserved in. The reactions that occur are severe nausea as the transplant is happening, the chemical is one that overwhelms the senses and so they tell you to bring a big orange with you to transplant, they have you peel and rip it up and have the patient sniff the orange. This is supposed to work because oranges have such a strong sent that if they sniff it, it will compete with the chemical for the attention of your senses and you will not notice the effects of the chemical on your body. The chemical makes your throat have that terrible overwhelming sensation you have in your throat right before you throw up( Everyone should know what  I’m talking about! It has to be my least favorite feeling ever!) Jared was very good about sniffing his orange, and he tried to fight back that terrible sensation. He made it all the way through the transplant before he started vomiting.

Jared smelling the orange. Half way through he picked up a piece and put it on his face.....

 Getting the transplant ready!

After the transplant was over Jared was able to sleep for several hours while he got five hours of hydration. Jared has not had a huge appetite under the circumstances, but he is now home and feeling ok.

Several people have asked me how long Jared will be in the hospital after transplant? Or how long till he is better? It is all kind of confusing but I am going to try to explain it. When people have stem cell transplants now a days they do not keep you in the hospital directly after your transplant. When people have the regiment of Chemotherapy that Jared had they know that after a certain number of days your counts will drop to zero. How many days till this happen depends on the person. When your counts drop to zero you are extremely prone to infection because you have no immune system. Instead of keeping you in the hospital as soon as you have your transplant they let you go home and be comfortable until you are so sick you have to be in the hospital. So, everyday from here on we go to the doctors and they take a blood sample and look at his counts and we talk to the doctor. Jared will go into the hospital for on average a week or two, but the exact day is unsure. Here are some reasons why he would go in…..If he can not stop vomiting, if he has a temperature over 100 degrees, if he gets mucosidus, if he can no longer swallow his pills, and if he is in extreme pain. These are things that will most likely happen to Jared at some point most likely in the next week and then he will be admitted. When will Jared feel better? That is also very unknown, today transplant day is what they call day zero and each day after counts up from zero. They expect most people to be on the up and up with their counts coming up from zero around day 10 to 13. They also expect Jared to leave the transplant team and go back to his normal doctor around the 12^th of December. How good he will feel is so unknown, and these dates I stated before are just guesses. Everything in this process is a guess, or an estimate it is scary when you are the kind of person that hears an idea and literally could etch it into a stone if I could! I am trusting in the doctors, they are wonderful and so smart  but mostly we are trusting in god. Jared is such an amazing talented guy and he has such an exciting life ahead of him. I have so much faith that he is going to recover fast and live a long healthy life.

Thank you for your prayers! Today was a very scary and unknown day, but we were so blessed with phone calls, tons of texts, and emails. We are so grateful for all of our family members and friends for their love and support as we try to conquer this disease! Day zero is almost over and it’s all uphill from here! 

Jared's mom brought us treats! Cake Pop!