[DAY -2] Last night, many hours after receiving my last Campath shot, I thought to myself "I'm not feeling to bad".  Well, the Campath Gods must have heard me because I noticed a rash on both arms and both legs at about 8pm.  We contacted Nurse Ashraf and told him about it, he said it is expected so take a cold shower and drink lots of water.  Done and done. It's mostly gone now, but I can feel it bubbling just below the surface of my skin, ready to show itself should I scratch somewhere.  So I am resisting all urges to scratch. So far, so good.

Big day for me today.  I have completed the Campath conditioning, so it's time to remove my bone marrow / stem cells and then be hit with a good dose of chemo today and tomorrow, and then put stem cells back on Tuesday.  Anne always says "Strong mind, strong body".  I agree, so strong mind it is.  She also reminded me to put on the eye of the tiger, so I will put it on before game time this afternoon.

Once the stem cells are put back into my body, it takes 10-14 days for them to 'engraft'. During that time, many of your body's protection mechanisms are not what they need to be, so great care must be exercised.  Germs are something your body cannot deal with, as is bleeding (your body has lost the ability to stop it). So, I will be wearing a mask anytime I leave the room (likely only for blood testing at the clinic), and we all will be using alcohol-based hand sanitizer like mad.  Every handle, every doorknob, every time you touch anything, you get the idea.  I probably won't be shaving either, because knowing me I will cut myself.

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One of the first people to have HSCT for MS is from Australia.  Her great story, which I got from the HSCT Group on Facebook that I am a member of, is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU3oJEJT_yo

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I saw a post about pomegranate seeds on my wife's Facebook today.  Her mom (Baba) will peel 10 pomegranates (very time consuming) and Anne, Elaina, Aly and I will finish them off in a couple days.  They are absolutely delicious, and apparently very healthy too.  If I could only eat one thing the rest of my life, I think they may be the winner.  I cannot wait to have those delicious seeds again!
Some of Baba's recent handiwork: