DOCTOR WHO?

                                                           MEET DOCTOR WHO ?
  DOCTOR WHO? was quite a character.  He liked to make a fashion statement with his ties.  Notice his tie in this drawing.  You may think the pattern on this tie is 100s of fried eggs.  Wrong.  This is a repeating pattern of  stemcells printed on silk.  Each day of the week Dr. Who had a different tie.  On Monday his tie might be a pattern made of cream colored platelets on a navy back ground or Tuesday white blood cells on red. My favorite tie was his red blood cells on light yellow that always looked nice with his blue pinstripe shirt.

MEET MISS IV POLE

    Over time Guy's IV Pole morphed into Miss IV(sexy) Pole.  She became sassy and proud of herself.  Miss IV was always with him, she ate with him, walked laps with him and even slept with him. When I realized I was becoming jealous of his IV pole I knew I needed to go home for a rest.  Actually some patients would give their IV poles wigs and paper plate faces. The nurses assured me my reaction was common. I wasn't as crazy as some said.

WARRIORS WITH WEAPONS

                  MEET OUR FELLOW WARRIORS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER
There were chairs at the end of the hall next to the only window.  This was the meeting place for those who were able to walk the halls.  After a certain amount of chemo all the patients male and female began to look alike, at least for a while.  The lady in the center has managed to declare her femininity.

IV Pole Christmas Tree

                    Guy and I were in the Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit over Christmas 2007.

When Guy's nurses were adjusting his IV pole it looked like they were decorating a Christmas tree.  It even had  twinkle lights. At one point Guy had two IV poles and well over twenty IV bags. Notice the IV hooks form a star at the top.

TRANSFORMATION ON THE TRANSPLANT FLOOR

GUY'S TRANSFORMATION

   Once you have committed to a stem cell transplant you are admitted to The Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant floor.'    
   Then two major things happen :
        (1)   You are tethered to an IV pole that will be your constant companion, best friend and weapon for the fight.  It is sometimes your walking stick for balance and sometimes your dancing partner. This is good.
        (2)   Second your looks will began to change at least for a while and this will force you to sort  your priorities.  Your vanities will dissolve into understanding & compassion for all others.  This is good.
    You have already seen Guy with his IV pole so now I'll show you his transformation.  We had a web site at the time where I posted his progress.  When he lost the hair on his head and grew a beard instead our daughter gave him a ear ring and posted his picture. We received so many comments that we held a contest and asked people to vote on the website if they liked his ear ring or not. The women loved it and the men hated it.  Of course it was a clip-on.  Frankly I liked it!
   

DAILY ELEVATOR LAPS

Walking to the elevators and back was a lap.  The doctors required that you get out of bed and move.  The goal was 15 laps a day.  Of course his IV pole had to go with him.  He got to where he would give HER a spin, I mean give IT a spin at the elevators when he turned around.  She stuck to him closer than a brother.  Guy was very committed to his "Vator" laps which helped him keep up his strength and gave him a focus.   Don't think the laps were easy.  He had to work up to 15 over time.  First he made it half way to the elevators and sat down before returning to our room. Later he made it all the way to the elevators, sat down for a rest and then returned.    Then he advanced to three full laps a day and finally 15 laps a day.  Make a lap and take a nap, make a lap and take a nap.  You get the idea.

MY COZY SPACE IN GUYS HOSPITAL ROOM

                 This was my space in Guy's 12 x 15 room for ten months.  It was small but had its advantages.  Everything I needed was within reach and on one was likely to sit on me or target me for a shot. However that almost happened when we were napping together in his bed one day and he woke up before I  did.  He decided to go for a brief walk in the hall.  A new nurse was on the floor that day and came in our room to see only my hair sticking out from the covers and no IV pole.  Loud voices woke me up questioning, "who is this in the bed and where is the IV pole?