Day -5

The doctor's refer to Tom's transplant schedule as minus days leading up to the transplant (which is day 0) and then plus days up to 100 when Tom essentially emerges from the thick woods into the more open woods.

Day -6 was yesterday. The first chemo drug Cytoxan was administered last night uneventfully.

The second chemo drug ATG was administered today at 10:30 AM and has been essentially uneventful. One case of the chills drew about five staff members and was resolved very quickly. Within 15 minutes there were no more chills. This drug will be administered over 10 hours. He is continually loaded up with Benadryl to prevent reactions and has been sleeping a lot (with a few breaks for food [still a good appetite] and Lakers). Nurse Melanie says he is doing exceptionally well. She said there's usually at least a drop in blood pressure, but Tom's is perfect.

The webcam has been great. Tom chatted with Tammy in Indiana and Mom & Dave (his new lookalike since he shaved his whole face) in Santa Maria. He even "had breakfast" with Gabriel and me this morning and "kept an eye on" Gabriel while I took a shower. If you have a webcam you can see Tom in the hospital using the magic of Skype (which is free). His Skype login is tom.dubransky.

Finally, our friend, Erin, created this very cool interactive calendar for those who'd like to volunteer to help out the Highland Park DuBranskys while Tom is in the hospital over the next 1 1/2 to 2 months. Right now I've listed all the time slots that I could use the knowledge that someone could, if needed, help out with Gabriel so I can be at the hospital with Tom, taking care of things Tom (or Gabriel) may need or going to the gym. The website is: http://www.my.calendars.net/teamtom (there will always be a link to the calendar in the "Tom's Health" section in the left hand column of the blog). The instructions are in the header of the website. You will need to login "teamtom" and put in the password "support." No need to volunteer far in advance, if you know you have time in the next few days just login. It'll be nice to know I have coverage, if needed, a few days out.

Thanks-we really are blessed to have such a loving community of friends and family!!

Love, The Highland Park DuBranskys