James’ New Stem Cells have Engrafted!

Hello Everyone,


The stem cells James received during his transplant have engrafted into his marrow and his body has begun to produce blood. This is wonderful news, the last of the major milestones as far as the transplant is concerned.


Once the body begins to produce cells it takes only a couple of days to produce enough blood to be at acceptable levels. Because of this, the doctors expect James to be discharged from the hospital this Friday or Saturday.


Overall James’ transplant and recovery have gone as well as possible. He experienced minimal side effects from the chemo, handled his low blood counts well, and has been able to keep active and nourished. It has by no means been a cake-walk, but he has moved through each stage like a trooper.

We hope you all are happy and healthy.

Love,
Stacey

Shibley Makes the Portland Tribune

Newspaper columnist Phil Stanford included an item about the cable access show James has been a part of for 4-plus years. It's actually about a political candidate named Will Hobbs who's running for Congress against David Wu. Will took Shibley's place on the couch this week.

Phil Stanford writes:

Forget Barack Obama and Steve Novick. Biggest surprise of the political season has got to be Will Hobbs, the country rock guitarist turned Intel engineer who’s running for Congress in the district that includes west Portland and Beaverton. … Two weeks ago, probably no one besides fans of the popular ’70s band Wheatfield had ever heard of him. As of this week, he has the endorsement of both The Oregonian and Willamette Week, both of which picked him over incumbent David Wu. … One thing for sure, this guy’s no ordinary politician. Sunday evening he’ll be appearing on my pal Bill McDonald’s cable-access show, “Born to Slack,” raising money for McDonald’s co-host James Shibley, who just underwent a stem cell transplant. Who says good guys have to finish last?

Transplant Completed!

Hi Everyone.

James received his stem cell transplant early this morning, April 26th. The process was basically a blood transfusion except that rather than regular red blood cells it was rich with stem cells. The transplant began at 12:45am and took almost 5 hours. James experienced a few side effects, about 2 hours of intense chills and fever towards the end of the process. However, soon after he finished receiving the cells these went away.

Crystal and Kyle were here for the first part of the transplant and we had a nice celebration. As his doctor and nurses pointed out, April 26th is now James’ second birthday. James ate some Hostess cakes and we all had a toast with sparkling cider once the transplant began.

So far, James is doing well. He hasn't slept much for the past 2-3 nights so he is groggy and tired. His blood counts are continuing to drop, and should bottom out in the next few days so we are expecting that his energy will steadily go down during this time. The side effects from the chemotherapy are beginning to rear their ugly head as well so we know we are soon entering the most difficult phase of the transplant.

Despite all of this, spirits are high. We know things will go well and that James will come out of this strong and healthy.

Thanks everyone for your encouraging notes on the blog. Each time we log on there are new things for James to read.

Take care of yourselves.

Love,
Stacey

"It Went Well"

Stacey emailed me that the procedure went well. She's going to send me a blog post later but I just wanted to pass that on.
So many complete strangers around the world worked on this from the anonymous donor in Europe to the airline pilots, doctors, nurses, and everyone else. At least we can thank the ones here in Portland but there are a lot of people involved with this who we'll never even know. That's inspirational - humanity at its best. And the suspenseful part wondering if these people would come through, is now done. They delivered.
The procedure took from 12:45a.m. to 5a.m., but the cells that James needs to survive are now in his body, and though the danger is far from over, that's a giant step forward in this entire ordeal.

We are in the hospital!

Hello everyone! James checked into the hospital on Wednesday, April 16th to begin the transplant process. Getting admitted took some time, but by late afternoon we were settled into the room and unpacking. The room has two beds and James is the only patient, so Stacey is able to stay with him through the whole process. Crystal had several pictures of Robert blown up and we have hung them up all around the room, making things feel a bit more homey.

Robert’s first birthday was on the 16th. We had a party for him on April 15th so that Daddy and Robert could celebrate together. Lots of friends showed up and we had a great time. Robert ate his cake using a fork (he was very excited about being allowed to use the same utensils as the rest of us), and showed a fair amount of interest in unwrapping presents, although he didn’t make through all of them that night. Everyone had a great time.

James has finished four days of initial chemotherapy and has begun a more intense form of chemotherapy today, April 21. He will be on this chemo for two days and then have two days off of all chemo prior to his transplant. His transplant is scheduled for April 25th, sometime in the evening. They will be harvesting from the donor in the morning, flying it in to OHSU, and then the stem cells will undergo some tests prior to transplant.

In medical terms the days prior to transplant are counted down as negative days, days after the transplant are counted up as positive days and transplant day is “Day 0”. Today is day -4, (four days prior to transplant). They say that days +4 thru +14 (4-14 days after transplant) are the most difficult and dangerous. James’ counts will be very low during this time and we will be waiting for the new stem cells to engraft into the marrow and begin to create new blood. This will also be the time that the negative side-effects from the chemotherapy will be most acute. In addition, serious forms of Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD) can begin to occur. Please send James your love and positive thoughts during these days to help him through the tough time. More comments on the blog will be a great way of letting him know you are thinking about him.

We will post a new entry when the new stem cells have begun to engraft so that everyone knows when James has jumped over the first hurdle successfully. Thank you everyone for you support and love during the last few months.

Love,
James and Stacey

Robert's First Birthday Part One

Robert Was a Perfect Gentleman

Although Some of the Guests Got Rowdy

Warming to the Occasion

What It Is Really All About - The Cake

Robert's First Birthday Part Two

Getting Into It

Charming the Room

James with Friends

The Family Portrait