We are officially in Seattle. The pre-transplant process has begun! We arrived in Seattle about 2 this afternoon. We got all checked in to the PGH just in time to get back in the car and go to my appointment. The appointment itself was much better than I had expected. I had an assessment with my study Neuro, which went well since I am actually doing a bit better than I was at my last appointment. Then it was on to the VERY dreaded spinal tap.....

You see I had such a horrible experience the first time around that I was NOT looking forward to this. My first experience 5 years ago (which is what diagnosed me...that with the MRI) was not good at all. My doc at the time (who is a very good doc) could not get in because it turns out I have a slight curvature in my spine, so slight that you could not tell just by feeling/looking at my back. He tried for a while and was unable to get in. So, I ended up having to come back the next day where they used X-ray to get in. That worked well but I had such a bad reaction, spinal headache, that I ended up at the ER needing a blood patch. All these years I thought that was probably because I agreed to them taking extra spinal fluid for a study they were doing. Turns out that had nothing to do with it. 5 years ago they used a bigger needle and told you to go lie down for 12 hours. This is no longer the case. Now they encourage you to take it easy but drink lots of caffeine and movement is good. The best part though is that they use a much smaller needle. The process takes longer but the result is a minimal headache. I did get the headache and got quite nauseous as well, but after about an hour I felt much better. :) This was a piece of cake compared to before.

Tomorrow is my official "start" date at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. I have to be there to check in at 9am, blood work at 9:30 and then off to meet with the Attending Doc. I have been assigned to the Violet team (my transplant team) and so after tomorrow I will have a better idea of what will take place over the next couple of weeks as we prepare (and I get poked 8 billion times) for the transplant.

You can expect more frequent updates now that we are here. I hope you are all doing well and staying cool. Here in Seattle it was VERY warm today. It has been somewhat unbearable in the Tri-Cities, but that's not all that uncommon this time of year. For Seattle to hit 100` (which it did last week) is very uncommon and the worst part is many people don't have AC. Anyway, I wish you all the best. Take care!