Day 0 and the Can of Corn - 5/6/2022

Day 0 - Some of you may be wondering why the title of this blog is “It Just Takes an Hour.” When I first discovered that I was sick, all I could think about was what if I had found out I was sick just a few months earlier. I have always stressed the importance of annual physicals. When we moved to Arizona we were completely void of doctors. I started an immediate search for a good family doctor. The only problem was that everybody I asked basically said he or she are “OK.” That wasn’t good enough for me. Nothing is more important than your health and I wasn’t going for OK. So I went about a year without a physical. A year that might have cost me my life.

When I did get a good reference, it came from a guy that I casually met at a New Year’s party. I immediately made an appointment. Twenty-four days later I was in the hospital with kidney failure. I soon found out that I also had cancer. If I had just gone to the doctor earlier, I might have saved my kidneys and made my life easier the last 13 years. So, take that hour and get a physical, it may save your life.

Yesterday was my second Rebirthday. Not only was it a miracle that the extra cells collected from 13 years ago were viable, but also a miracle that I am able to go through the process again to reboot my bone marrow. I could almost say it was Déjà vu but I have already used that title. The day progressed much like thirteen years ago and there were no hiccups. May 6th is officially Day 0 (zero.) It was a good day. Angela, the physician’s assistant for much of my time at the Mayo made a special trip up to bring me a can of cream corn and a balloon celebrating my special day.

You are probably wondering why she left the can of corn. It seems that after you receive your stem cells, the preservative that is added to my own stem cells send out an odor that smells like cream-style corn. Most people pick up the scent but the person receiving the transplant does not. Weird.

Day 1 - has not progressed quite as well. I developed a slight fever which is expected but not this early. My blood pressure was also running a bit high. We will be watching both of those items for the rest of the day. The human body is a complex organism that is a wonder. I sure didn’t understand why my temperature was moving up. Well 3 hours later both blood pressure and the temperature came back to normal lavers. Just hard to explain.