Phil, Bill, Steve and DAY ZERO

Dear all,

Steve received his stem cell "rescue" today... it was fairly eventful and tiring, given the cocktail of drugs, and he is trying to rest (easier said than done in a hospital). Unfortunately, nothing tastes good right now food-wise, so he is drinking elemental mixtures to at least get some calories into his system. Let's hope he can sleep better tonight, although we are realistic about his counts continuing to crash during the week, given the chemo dose from last week. The idea is for his reinserted stem cells to "criss cross" with his old immune system. We're keepin' positive...

Speaking of positive, I couldn't help but have tears in my eyes watching the Marathon today... my voice is gone from cheering the racers! As I looked out at the sea of runners, all I could think of is that there are 30,000 stories that brought all those amazing people to that race. And I loved that they were running and producing all those endorphins just as Steve was receiving his transplant. My brother Phil finished the Boston Marathon in 3'59" in exactly the amount of time it took Bill Rodgers to run! (I had seen Bill on Boylston St on Saturday when I went to pick up Phil's bib for him)

We even saw Phil in the crowd and got a hug as he passed by... Lucas had the poster of the day which read, "Phil Yaz iz the man!"

Kath