Well the first day of Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) treatment has finally arrived. There are 5 days of high dose chemotherapy before the actual BMT, so the countdown is on. See the attached drug chart to see how busy I will be taking my assorted pre-transplant medications over the coming week thus turning myself into a human maraca. The upside of this part of the treatment is that it can be done at home. The hospital has a home care service where a nurse comes out everyday to take bloods, change my CVC line dressing, and see how I am doing. Sponge baths, however, are not included in the service. The chemotherapy drugs to be used to clean out my bone marrow are Busulphan and Melphalan. There are 4 days of the Busulphan and 1 day of the Melphalan. The Busulphan is a syrup and surprisingly is taken orally. It tastes very much like a strawberry milkshake except that the milk has been substituted with water and there is very little strawberry flavour. To minimise possible nausea I have been given some Maxolon to take with the Busulphan. Also, I have to take Clobazam (an anti-convulsant) as the Busulphan can cause seizures. The first of the 6 hourly doses started at 6am which is good because I enjoyed my Busulphan whilst watching the sun rise. I can hardly contain my excitement for tomorrow morning's dose. My girlfriend Sandy's parents (Rob and Di) dropped by to baby-sit me whilst she went to the gym. The hospital requested a 24hr urine collection to check on my kidney function. The major benefit of this is that I can have a wee without leaving the couch (as long as it ends up in the given bottle). However, this did not go down well with the visitors. After the first day of the chemotherapy I still feel pretty good. No nausea or crudness, just a little drowsy from the Clobazam and the lack of sleep.

Up at 6am again to have the first delicious dose of Busulphan for the day. Today, the doctors have also got me started on Cyclosporin. Boy are these tablets big. You certainly don't want these babies to go down the wrong way. They don't smell too good either. Had an exciting trip to the hospital today to get a platelet transfusion (the platelet count below is pre transfusion). Apparently, they have to keep my platelet count above 30 whilst I am receiving this drug called Fragmin. Just like a man with a dart board for a stomach, I was so excited to find out that Fragmin is a subcutaneous injection and is required for the next 10 or so days. To top it all off the Fragmin stings for a couple of minutes after it is injected. Sandy went to the gym again today, so more baby-sitting duties for Rob and Di. Finished off the 24 hour urine collection. I only managed to fill just over half of the large bottle so I don't think I will win any prizes. Well, 2 days of chemo down and still feeling good.

It is the final day of the Busulphan and I am surprisingly still feeling good. Time sure flies by when you are on a Busulphan drinking binge. Have to say though, that the side effects were nowhere near as bad as previous chemotherapies that I've had (ie no nausea or general feeling of crudness). However, the 6 hourly doses of Busulphan (plus the other scheduled drugs) has made it hard to get some decent sleep and so I am somewhat tired. Our mate (James) dropped by for a lunchtime BBQ and also cleaned up all our biscuits and lollies. One final Busulphan taste delight and I am off to bed. I was looking forward to not having to get up at 6am tomorrow but in preparation for tomorrow's dose of Melphalan I have to wake up early to have some Dexamethasone and Ondansetron.

After months of waiting, the actual transplant day has finally arrived. Got into the hospital at about 10:10am. Had the usual blood tests and dressing on my CVC line changed while I was waiting for the graft. The collected bone marrow had to be processed to remove most of the red blood cells as I have anti-bodies in my blood (which can react) to the donor's B positive blood type. The bone marrow arrived at about 12pm. It is amazing to note that the donor was a small woman weighing in at a mere 39kg. However, they were able to extract a whopping volume of 1,800mL from her marrow with 1,300mL being bone marrow (and the remaining volume being made up of blood). Have to say though that after all the additional chemotherapy treatment that I had to have to control the leukaemia while waiting for the transplant, I was feeling quite relaxed. The bone marrow transplant was quite uneventful and anticlimatic as it was much like receiving a blood transfusion, even though there were 3 doctors, and 3 nurses on hand in case of complications. Had a platelet transfusion so I could have more pin cushion action from the Fragmin. Left the hospital at about 5:00pm but somehow gained an additional 13 pills to take each day despite having ceased a few medications. Hiccups are getting slightly worse, my throat is starting to get some slight irritation from the chemo, and I have a slight decrease in appetite. As such, the Crudness Factor has increased to 3.

Woke up to the sweet feeling of diarrhea this morning. Yet another side-effect of the chemo or perhaps as a result of eating too much chocolate last night. Had another visit to hospital today. Whilst I can still stay at home I have to go in every couple of days to get a low dose of Methotrexate. This drug is essentially used to reduce the effects of GVHD. However, to counteract the side effects of the Methotrexate I have to take some Folinic Acid. Also started up on my favourite injection today GCSF. This is a daily injection that I've had to have after each round of chemo since I started treatment last year. Also got given something for the diarrhea (medically it is called Loperamide, but really it is just a cork). And of course, you can't leave the hospital without having to take more drugs. However, got off lightly this time with only a 4 tablet increase. Mouth, throat and gut pain is slightly rising, but I can still eat, drink and take my tablets.

Had my 6am drugs and went back to sleep. Was then woken by the arrival of the home nurse (Vanessa) at 10am for the daily blood tests and dressing change. Even though I did not have time for a shower, she did not offer me a sponge bath. Rob and Di dropped in to bring Sandy a coffee, and mum brought around some freshly cooked lunch. Originally I did not have to go into hospital today, but a large drop in my haemoglobin and platelets (see the blood counts below) meant that I had to go in for an unscheduled transfusion. Turned up at the hospital at 2pm and found the elusive exercise bike I had been chasing in my room. Just need a spanner now to adjust the height of the seat (looks as if Yoda was the last person to use it). Had a shower and got my first bag of blood at about 4pm. With the shortages at the blood bank, it took a while to get my platelets. Left the hospital around 9pm. Mouth is more sore today. Feels a little like my mouth has been lightly scalded with hot water. Crudness Factor is a cruisy 3.3.

Had a really sluggish day today. Felt quite tired and nauseous. Took the usual load of morning drugs and tried to go back to sleep. However, I would get woken up every hour or so with a really dry mouth. To relieve the dryness I would have some water which meant (you guessed it) additional toilet runs disturbing my sleep. Was due in hospital at 12pm for my second dose of Methotrexate. Was given some Ondansetron to relieve the nausea which seemed to work well. Had a few naps in between blood tests, showers, dressing changes, Fragmin and GCSF injections and consequently ended up spending about 4 hours at the hospital. The mucositis only seems to be getting slightly worse and is still not giving me much curry. The very tired and nauseous feeling today has pushed the Crudness Factor up to 4. On a good note though, I still have most of my hair.

Today was a very lazy day. I was very tired and spent most of the day vegging on the couch whilst Sandy and her parents were hard at work in the garden. Didn't have to go into the hospital for any scheduled or unscheduled visits. The home nurse (Vanessa) came out to do the usual tests and check on my general progress. The lowlight of the day was definitely when I was left with a Fragmin to self-inject (if required)!! Vanessa would let me know if I needed it after she found out what today's platelet count was, and of course I needed it!! The phrase "be careful or you might take an eye out" was all too appropriate the way my hand was shaking. Believe it or not, having to take about 30 tablets a day is starting to get tedious. Crudness Factor is up a bit to 4.3. The final thing to note is that my white cell count has basically hit rock bottom.

I have worked out that if you placed all the tablets that I have to take on an average day, end to end, it would measure about 47cm!!!! The home nurse (Sandy, and not my girlfriend Sandy in a nurse's uniform) came to see me today. My luck is definitely changing, the Fragmin injections have stopped, yay!! However, I was extremely tired today. I would get knackered just walking to and from the toilet. Consequently, spent almost the entire day in bed (resting up for "Alias" tonight). Mum dropped by with some lunch and creme caramel but I have definitely lost most of my appetite. Crudness Factor remains the same as yesterday.

My run of having treatment at home has come to a "sizzling" end. Over the last couple of days my Crudness Factor has been slowly making its way up and today rocketted to an intra-day high of 7 when I arrived in hospital with a scorching 39.5 degs temperature (a temperature over 38 degs was one of the conditions to start my stay in hospital). Blood cultures were taken, IV anti-biotics administered, fluids and Panadol given, had my scheduled Methotrexate, and I was off to rest for the afternoon (whilst Sandy toasted marshmallows on my head). Also had a chest x-ray and was given some platelets. By early evening, my Crudness Factor had worked its way back down to a more respectable 5. The upside of being in hospital is the reduction in tablet intake to 17 (with some drugs being administered intravenously), and not having to take those large and smelly Cyclosporin capsules. I still don't have much appetite. Hospital horror phrase of the day "stool sample and 24hr urine collection".

Today was another very crud day putting me on the brink of my very first Crudness Hat-Trick. I struggled the whole day to get my temperature down below 38 degs, and I believe I failed dismally. Low platelets meant I was given a transfusion today. Again spent a large proportion of my day in bed zonked out. I somehow managed a shower later in the day and was lucky not to faint and knock myself out. Mum and dad, and Sandy's parents dropped by to see me all snuggled up in bed. Today's average Crudness Factor was probably around 7 to 7.5. My throat is still giving me some curry when I swallow, but I think it may be on the improve since I was able to swallow twice consecutively without choking.

There is no stopping those white cells now! They are absolutely firing. Had the usual crappy night of sleep. But woke with a Crudness Factor of only 5.5. I was forced into the shower by the nurses who took the opportunity to make-up my bed. However, I took my revenge and left them a stool sample!! My left arm looked a bit puffy compared to the right and the doctors fired up an ultrasound to see if there were any blood clots. Results showed there were no clots and the cause of the puffiness remains a mystery. The big morning of activity left me pretty tired and I spent the afternoon napping. The doctors wanted to find out more about the rash that won't go away so they did a skin biopsy in the afternoon. They gave me some platelets and then cored a small section of skin from just above my bum. As usual, Sandy, mum and dad dropped by to see how I was doing. Oh yeah, don't want to forget that the unfunny doctors have changed my Cyclosporin back to 2 smelly 2.6cm tablets twice a day...yeeech!