Early in our marriage Chris gave me a beautiful emerald green necklace. It's one of my most treasured gifts. I was born in 1980 just two days after Mt St Helen's erupted. When Mt St Helen's erupted a cloud of ash darkened the skies. It was a catastrophic event. However from that ash that covered many states, they discovered through a process of refinement using heat and pressure something beautiful and unexpected could be created. The necklace he gave me was a beautiful green gem called Helenite.
This past summer at our manager meetings a co-worker of mine talked about the scriptural phrase and her journey to discover what "Beauty for Ashes" meant. Sadly my brain has been overwhelmed since then and I can't remember much of what she said, but I have thought a lot about the phrase and what it means. To me it's about turning difficult and painful things into something of beauty. We're just a few months into this new difficult journey and it seems to grow tougher each day. We both strive see the good, but typical of January, it's been difficult to see the through the gray and not feel overwhelmed. 
This year for Christmas, he got me another amazing necklace. While most of the helenite made is a beautiful emerald green color, a very small amount of helenite is deep red. The fact that it's a deep red (like the Myeloma Ribbon) and very rare (just like myeloma) makes it a perfect reminder of our difficult journey. The symbolism of the phrase "Beauty for Ashes" turned into a physical manifestation is beautiful. Treatment for his myeloma covers so much of our life in a blanket of ash, and the pressure of it sometimes is overwhelming but hopefully once we reach the other side of this "refinement" we'll both emerge better for it.
This week I've been doing a lot of reading and learning about the stem cell transplant. When they first mentioned it I think we clung to the fact that it's his best chance to survive and came away with hope that overshadowed the difficulty. We knew it would be difficult but didn't at the time think to ask more questions about what to expect since it was still quite a ways off. The transplant road is not easy and there are many potential pitfalls along the way.
Many people will call their transplant day their "re-birthday" as essentially it's a complete reset of your immune system. Extreme care will need to be taken to allow his body time to recover and rebuild. Something as simple as a small cut from fingernail clippers could turn into a deadly infection. Hand sanitizer and masks will be a staple at our home for quite some time and even so, it will be a while before he can shake hands. He will need to follow a neutropenic (low-microbial) diet since his body won't be able to fight off any food borne illnesses.
Someone asked me the question about if he would "forget" all of his childhood immunizations. All of the things that he has built up an immunity to will be wiped away and he'll be starting from scratch. I hadn't thought about it in that depth, but have since learned that he will. Patients with no signs of myeloma a year after transplant who are healthy enough will often be re-immunized. Anyone who is sick or has been around anyone sick should not visit, and even healthy visitors will probably be limited while in the hospital and for the first couple months. He could still use your support and encouragement so don't hesitate to send message or photo.
Many people will call their transplant day their "re-birthday" as essentially it's a complete reset of your immune system. Extreme care will need to be taken to allow his body time to recover and rebuild. Something as simple as a small cut from fingernail clippers could turn into a deadly infection. Hand sanitizer and masks will be a staple at our home for quite some time and even so, it will be a while before he can shake hands. He will need to follow a neutropenic (low-microbial) diet since his body won't be able to fight off any food borne illnesses.
Someone asked me the question about if he would "forget" all of his childhood immunizations. All of the things that he has built up an immunity to will be wiped away and he'll be starting from scratch. I hadn't thought about it in that depth, but have since learned that he will. Patients with no signs of myeloma a year after transplant who are healthy enough will often be re-immunized. Anyone who is sick or has been around anyone sick should not visit, and even healthy visitors will probably be limited while in the hospital and for the first couple months. He could still use your support and encouragement so don't hesitate to send message or photo.
The reason I started this blog was to help keep our family and friends up to date with Chris's condition. So, if there's any questions you have, don't hesitate to ask and we'll both do the best we can to answer them, research them or ask his doctor.
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