An itinerary

Hello loved ones! Trevor and I will be updating this blog as frequently as possible to give everyone a chance to learn (or not learn) all about the process that our family is going through. We will try to post pictures, videos, and probably more medical crud than you will want to see, but at least you won't be lacking for information on us.
I will post later on to give a "catch up" so that the proper backstory is filled in, but that will be quite an undertaking, and I don't know if I'm game to relive all those feelings right now.
So, here's what is on our plate today:
As of yesterday morning (I'm writing this at 4 AM, and don't get his weights til about 8) Oakley weighs 10 lbs 6.9 oz or 4731 grams. We are scheduled to go to Seattle via Saint Luke's charter plane on August 22nd and he will be in the care of Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Facility, and UW School of Medicine. Trevor will drive our car up, and it sounds like he will be convoying up with his mom. I get to fly with Oakley since I'm the primary food source and way more comfortable on flights and small planes than Trevor is.
When we get to Seattle, Trevor and I hope to stay at one of the three Ronald McDonald houses that are within walking distance of the Children's Hospital.
The duration of our stay is very much dependant on how well things go with the transplant, but the doctors in Seattle said it could be anywhere from 3 months to a year, so we are throwing ourselves into this and neglecting all else. Trevor's mom will live at our home while we're gone, so we won't have to worry about the mortgage (Thank you Mona! That takes so much stress out of the equation.) and I am currently on a leave from work, that I hope to extend since I've got quite a few medical issues of my own going on. Trevor has delayed going back to school, we've had quite a lot of other things going on, it got swept under the rug for now.
The tentative schedule of events in Seattle is currently to have Oakley examined thoroughly so that they can find his normal and know what to expect from his body when undergoing chemo. They'll also put in a central line. It's a semi-permanent IV that will allow blood to be drawn and meds to be given with no pain. It is a surgery, but with all the stuff going on with him, it's definately worth it all.
After the initial couple of weeks of testing and healing from getting the line put in, he will start chemotherapy. One of the docs here said it would be 3 different meds, but I don't remember the names; but he won't have to have radiation. They want to start chemotherapy on September 8th.
The transplant date should be around September 13th, pending the donor is available on that date. He actually had 3 perfect matches! The first choice one is a 27 year old male from somewhere here in the States, and there are 2 in Europe that we have as back ups in case anything falls through with guy number 1! We are so overjoyed at our fortune in finding donors, we were dismayed when we found out neither of us would be able to donate, even if we were good matches, because of our blood clotting disorders and Trevor's diabetes.
Back to the itinerary, they then start monitoring Oakley to see how well his body accepts the donated cells. The biggest complication of transplants is graftversushost disease, and I haven't done any homework on that, but it sounds fairly explanatory: graft-meaning donated marrow (or any donated organ; eye, kidney, lung, etc) duking it out against the body's own cells because the host cells don't recognize the new kid as a good thing. This monitoring chunk of time could be as little as a month, or could last 4 or more; it's difficult to predict.
After that, he goes to a less round the clock type of monitoring and would be outpatient. At this point, we would be in house B at Ronald McDonald; which is actually apartments that are kept hyper-sanitary and clean because they are for bone-marrow transplant recipients and their families. He would still be within walking distance of the hospital, but it would be the first steps of "normalcy" that we will experience as a family. We would be going to several appointments a week during the outpatient phase, so we will still have to be in Seattle. This portion could last as little as 30 days, but as long as 6 months or more.
We then get to come HOME! We'll still have a zillion doctor's appointments, and probably a million or two people wanting to kiss us and the baby, but we will still have to be hyper sensitive about germs and illnesses and all the other things that could pounce on his weakened immune system, so I hope you understand if we don't let you kiss Oakley when you see him for the first time.
Well, this seems like a novel, not a blog...that's probably why I never really got into Twitter. My nurse told me to go to bed, so I'll save this and take heed. Good Night!