It's been a pretty uneventful week.  Casey's counts have been holding steady at .1.  On Wednesday he started getting shots of neupogen to boost the growth of his cells.  I have to remind myself that today is only day #9, since we had to start all over again.  The Phillies finally won a game, that's got to be a sign of things starting to turn around!
After his appointment yesterday, Casey and Stevie went to visit Paetyn Zeamer's parents.  Paetyn is an 11 year old girl who swims for five star, which is LAC's neighbor club.  Paetyn had a bicycle accident about 2 weeks ago and has a brain injury and is a patient at Hershey.  Paetyn is kept sedated so she rests while her brain heals.  The LAC swimmers all signed a card for her, which Casey and Stevie delivered to her mother.  Please keep their family in your thoughts and prayers.
Hoping you all have a fun and safe holiday weekend.
Peggy

Casey continues to do really well.  We took the dogs to Speedwell Lake yesterday for a little hike and a little swimming.  The dogs tend to jump and hop in the water more so than swim.  We will have to work on their doggie paddle stroke technique.  I will leave that up to Casey and Stevie.  The dogs really don't care about their stroke work, all they know is that they are having a lot of fun. 
Our friend Suzy is here from Thailand and spent the afternoon with us today.  She went along to Casey's appointment at Hershey and was asking everyone all kinds of questions.  After the appointment she went to chocolate world to buy candy to take home to her friends in Bangcock.  It is always full speed ahead with Suzy. It was great to see her again.
For now, we will keep making our daily trips to Hershey and wait for the new cells to engraft.  I will keep you posted.
Peggy

Casey was released from the hospital today and feeling good.  This is totally different from the first transplant when he was in the hospital for a month.  Other than the initial nausea and headache he is feeling good.  He is very tired, but it is hard to tell if that is from the transplant, or because they wake him up every 15 minutes in the hospital.
Casey entered his swimmers into the Meet on the Hill in Chapel Hill, NC this weekend.  I know he was excited about taking them down to his alma mater.   Stevie took the kids down and is calling to tell him what they are doing.  He is getting really homesick for UNC (and so am I!).  We have reservations for alumni weekend in September...can't wait.  I hope the kids have a great weekend.
For now, we have daily appointments at Hershey to keep us busy.
Peggy

Transplant #2 is finished, and Casey is sleeping.  He is not feeling very good.  He has a headache and is nauseous, so they gave him some medicine to knock him out.  Dr. Ehmann was discussing the fact that male donors are preferred to female donors, because men are just better... to a room full of women (Casey was the only other male in the room), knowing that we couldn't do anything to him because we needed him to do the transplant.  Wow, to have such power over a room!  Gary was disappointed that he couldn't be here, but I'm glad he wasn't, we'd never hear the end of that.
I posted some photos taken today.    This morning before I left home I grabbed my big blue Victorino finger.  I figure the day Derek got me the foam finger, I wore it proudly, waving it around and Victorino hit a home run.  Hopefully this transplant is a home run too.
Peggy

Here we are back at Hershey Medical Center, ready for transplant #2.  Keeping all of our fingers and toes crossed that this one engrafts. This place is feeling too much like home.  After talking to a friend, I feel as though I should clarify that Karen Musser is not Casey's donor.  She signed up at the bone marrow drive they had for Casey in October, and was a match for a lady who she never met.  Casey's donor is a young man who we never met.  Thank you to everyone who have been tested.
Casey had a good week.  His friend Barry was here from Seattle, so Casey got to spend Sunday afternoon with him.  In the past couple of months he had a friend from Nashville, Chapel Hill and Seattle come to visit, but on Sunday a friend is coming from Bangcock Thailand.  She gets the prize for the most miles!  We haven't seen her in several years and will have a lot of catching up to do.

Peggy

What a great weekend.  Casey took his swimmers on a 3 mile hike on Saturday, and then back to his house for a picnic.  Good thing he had his mom, and some of the other moms to do the cooking (thanks Nancy and Adrienne).  Those kids wore him out.  Back at his house he needed to sit in his recliner while the kids were running around, climbing trees, and laughing at Kyle's dog who fell in love with Emily.
Then on Sunday we were off to the Phillies game.  It was cold outside, but the Phillies bats were hot.  My nephew bought me a big foam Victorino finger so I could really get into the game (and keep my hand warm)!  Victorino hit a home run with me waving my big blue foam hand.  I feel personally responsible for that home run.  It was the best mother's day ever. 
Tomorrow chemo starts in preparation for the next transplant.  What would be day 100 of his transplant (which is a huge milestone) will be day #1.  We are ready to get started.  His chemo this time around will not be nearly as heavy as the last time because they are not killing cancer, just a few cells.  His doctor says compared to what he has already gone through, this should be a walk in the park.  I suppose he figured the hike on Saturday was his training for that walk. 
Peggy

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone.  Not much to tell these days, things have pretty much been holding steady.  Casey's white blood count has not changed from .2 for several weeks.  He has been sneaking out to coach outdoor dry land practices twice a week.  It makes him feel so much better to be around his swimmers.  I guess he figures he has harrassed me enough and needs to find new people to pick on.  On Friday he has an appointment with his oncologist and a week from today he starts chemo to get ready for transplant #2.
So much to celebrate this week, Casey's birthday, Cinco de Mayo, Mother's day, kids coming home and/or graduating from college.  Enjoy your week and revel in the fantastic spring weather.
Peggy

Casey is 28 today and got his bald photo taken for his driver's license.  Thank you for all of the birthday cards and wishes sent Casey's way today. 
We spent the weekend at the beach and had a great time.  Casey has to be extremely careful not to get sunburn. Rather than being beach bums we took the dogs to Cape Henelopen State park and for rides on the golf cart.  We were actually able to tire them out.  The rest of us were tired too.  Casey has a bad case of spring fever, and is ready to bust out.  Three months of being cooped up were not so bad when it was cold and miserable outside.  He is looking forward to having another transplant!  I know he misses all of you, and Quodoba burritos!