Bone Marrow 2

Well, I'm sitting in the hospital cafeteria right now.....  I just finished my big round of tests this morning to check everything and I guess the doctors have determined that I wouldn't be a good match for a direct bone marrow harvest and they are recommending that I do a PBSC donation instead... I guess they wanted the maximum possible amount of bone marrow and that can entail 8-9 access sites with up to 300 bone taps to retrieve that much bone marrow, and with my weight it makes it more difficult to access the pelvic bone so they have recommended that I do the PBSC instead.  So, now they have to contact the patients doctor and transplant team to see if stem cells work for them and if they do then we can move forward, but if not I guess they are going to have to find a different donor. 

I guess its pretty rare for them to want a different donor, but its still a possibility.  It kind of hurts being told I'm too overweight to help out in the way they wanted... I've never been a skinny guy, but I know that in the past few years my weight has gotten quite out of hand... it hasn't seriously effected my lifestyle or anything like that yet, but today is one of the first times I've really felt limited in what I can do because of my weight.  Its pretty disappointing to me that I let it get this out of hand and I definitely think its time to get back on track!!!

I'm not really sure how I am going to go about doing this but its definitely time to start... I don't want to ever be told I can't do something because of my size ever again!!! Unless, of course, its the kiddy ride at lagoon :)

Bone Marrow Donation 1

              I guess it’s about time I put up a post about what’s going on.   Back in November 2013 a bone marrow donor organization called DKMS was visiting BYU campus and they had a little table set up outside the Wilk… all they were doing was asking people to sign up to be bone marrow donors.  It was really easy, they just swab your cheek and take down your name and info and that’s it. They told everyone that less than 1% of all those who sign up to be donors are ever matched to actually be a donor. After what Stephen had gone through and what my father-in-law Lee Kolts is going through, I decided that if anyone on the face of planet needed to sign up it was me!!! When I signed up I was definitely willing, I just never thought I’d actually be selected.

                Well, back in march I got a call from the organization telling me that my DNA sample was a possible match for a then 17 now 18 year old male with a form of leukemia.  They asked if I was still willing to do further blood testing to see if I would be the best possible match and I said that I would be happy to.  After processing my blood samples I was confirmed as the best possible match and they then asked if I was willing to be the donor and have the young man proceed with the necessary chemotherapy to perform the transplant…. I told them that I would be happy to and that is why I’m writing this from about 30,000ft in the air on my way to Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, CA to have a full physical performed to make sure I’m healthy enough for the donation and for a chance to meet the harvest team that will perform the bone marrow harvest.

                Apparently there are two different methods to donating bone marrow.  The first and now days most common is that of a stem cell harvest or PBSC donation. This method involves the donor taking shots of a medicine called filgrastim that causes the body to over produce and release the stem cells into the blood stream. On the harvest day they simply hook you up to a dialysis machine that removes you r stem cells from your blood and then returns your blood to your body.  The second method called a bone marrow harvest involves a surgery where they make a small incision in your lower back and then using a large gauge needle they actually puncture your pelvic bone and extract your bone marrow.  The doctors for the young man that I I was matched to have decided that the second method is the best approach for him… so that is what I get to prepare for.

                At this physical they are going to go over the procedure more in depth with me and also do a full physical including an EKG and I few other tests to make sure that I am a fit donor.  Another cool thing that they are going to do is called an autologous blood donation…. That basically means that I am going to donate blood to myself… while at this appointment they will take somewhere from 1 to 2 units of my own blood so that when they do the actual procedure they can replenish my blood supply with my own blood instead of someone else’s .  I thought that was pretty cool!!!

What a Week!!!!!!!

Wow, the past week has been pretty insane!!!  Its absolutely crazy what can happen in only 7 days!!!  Lets see, for starters it was the last few days of finals...... lets just say there is a reason why everyone hates finals week.... it definitely is the worst week of the entire semester!!!  But enough about that lets just viemos, vimos, vencemos (a little Portuguese twist on classic Julius Caesar).....

The second big thing that happened last week was that I started back at the Utah County Parks Department.  I really like this job, its manual labor, but its not insanely hard and I get to be outside and some of the parks are absolutely beautiful!!! Here are some views at what I get to see everyday....


Nunn's Park, Provo Canyon

Spanish Fork River Park, Spanish Fork Canyon

Vivian Park, Provo Canyon



         And the third and of course biggest thing is that AMELIA GRADUATED!!!!!!!!! Now I get to spend the next few lines praising my absolutely amazing and unequalled wife!!! Oh, and p.s. she really is the most amazing ever!!!! You will never meet anyone as awesome as her!!!  Anyway, Amelia graduated with a four year degree back in December (which was after only 3 and a half years, and that included a stint in double majoring with a teaching degree which she decided not to go with), so basically she finished what takes most people 4-5 years to do in barely over three!!!  Amelia is someone who can (and will) do absolutely anything she can put her mind to!!!  Amelia has shown me that there is nothing on this planet that we can't achieve!!! Anyway, this beautiful woman just had her opportunity to walk and be recognized and it was so cool to be a part of something so awesome!!!

Official BYU Grad: "The World Is Our Campus"

The Most Beautiful Graduate Ever!!!

  To sum things up.... keep your eyes on this girl because she's going places..... I'm just stoked to have the opportunity to bask in her light as she shines!!!

One Down

Whew!!!! Friday night and I'm one test down and one plus a paper to go!!!! Its been a pretty crazy past few days!!! We had our reading day, which are days without class so that we can prep for finals... Reading days are always nice cause its kind of the calm before the storm, it gives you a chance to get all your stuff organized and plan out how you're going to attack your finals. 

During reading days this semester, one of the things on my to do list was to take the Grand Am in for safety and emissions inspection..... unfortunately it failed.... it passed emissions fine, but it failed safety..... to the tune of about $400 of repairs..... man being short on money can be hard sometimes!!!!! So we had to go get new temp tags and hope in the next two weeks that we can scrounge up the dough to fix up the car!!!

On a way happier and way more fun note, I already finished one of my finals!!! It was the final for my 270 computer programming class.  I think it went really really well, all of my programs worked out just fine, now we just gotta hope and see how I did on the multiple choice questions too.  I'm kinda stoked for this semester, because last semester I didn't have the best grades in the world and I landed myself on academic warning.... my overall GPA is still pretty good (at least I think so) but one bad semester lands you on warning regardless what your overall is.... Anyway, I'm excited because I think I'm gonna get a pretty good GPA this semester, not a 4.0 or anything, but better than warning, that's for sure.

Tonight was really fun too!!  Amelia and I colored eggs for Easter!!!! It was awesome!!! I love Easter Eggs.... mostly because I LOVE DEVILED EGGS!!!! Seriously, I think I could eat an entire platter of deviled eggs everyday of the week!! Needless to say, I'm lovin' it!!!!

I'm back

Its been quite a while since I last posted.  Life gets pretty dang hectic sometimes, and its always hard trying to keep things organized to the point so that you can do things like breath and relax and oh yeah blog :) hahahaha

Anyway, life is going well!!! Its coming to the end of another semester, which means finals time again.  You never do remember how hectic finals can be until you're back up on top them.  Today was the last day of classes and I had a final project (BYU Jeopardy Game I programmed its pretty cool, message me if you want to try it out), a midterm, and a paper all due... needless to say, it was a long day :) But Amelia is amazing and as soon as I got home tonight she took me to Pizza Pie café (which is a great little place when you want a lot of food and you like pizza) it was a really nice pick-me-up after a long day!!

Right now I have three finals to gear up for.  My dynamics final, my computer programming file and a four page paper for my history of jazz class.  As far as finals go this is actually a pretty good semester I really only have one super intense final (dynamics) the others are still finals but they won't be super bad.

I'm pretty excited because next week I'll be done with school and I'll start my job at the Utah County Parks Department again. Working full time can be long and sometimes it's hard work, but I really like the fact that I start early, end early, and when I'm done I can punch out and I have no worries for the rest of the day.  I'm super excited for summer!!!!!!!!

This weekend should be pretty cool too! My parents are awesome and this Saturday they're going to  come down and visit with all their yard tools and we're going to do some serious yard renovations.... our yard is going to look awesome when we're done with it!!! I'll be sure and post some before and after pics.

Anyway, boring update, but I think I'm going to start using this more as kind of like a journal, and to share cool things or thoughts I have about stuff.

Till next time!!