Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

home safely

We are back home now and Steve is resting comfortably on our couch. He says he is starting to feel a bit better today and is looking forward to finding a position, other than lying down, that is comfortable! Yesterday we were able to visit Tom in the hospital before we left to come home. It was encouraging to see him laughing and feeling pretty good. He's even figured out that he can have Pepsi, apple juice and crackers without throwing up. Seems like a step in the right direction to me! Steve's mom took a couple of pictures of Steve and Tom together, and then also of Tim, Steve and Tom - the three bone marrow matches =)







We were also able to hang out with Tim, Scotiska, Julian and Aliyah while we were staying down in Montclair. Here are a few pictures of the little cousins playing together! Aliyah liked to push Lily around on the little car, it was awesome =)

Bone Marrow Transplant

For those of you who don't know, Steve had surgery today to donate bone marrow to his brother Tom. The surgery was at City of Hope Hospital in Duarte, CA (the LA area)this morning at 7:30. Everything went great. Steve was in surgery for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours and will be discharged from the hospital within the hour most likely. He is feeling good, although the pain really started to set in when he stood up for the first time! I already picked up his pain medication from the pharmacy here in the hospital, so hopefully we should be good to go. Steve's brother, Tom, is currently receiving his bone marrow cells up on the 6th floor (Steve is on the 1st floor). The doctor said they really won't know until about 3 weeks out if the bone marrow is growing...but Steve is pretty sure his bone marrow is full of all kinds of good stuff and will mesh nicely with Tom =) Thank you for all of your prayers. After a visit to see Tom tonight once Steve is discharged, we will rest at Jeff & Diane's house (Steve's oldest brother & wife) at least for tomorrow and then head back up to Santa Maria on Sat. or Sunday. Here are a couple of pics of Steve in his hospital bed that Barb, Tom's wife, took on her phone...a little blurry, but I had to include them (especially the one with Steve's favorite new contraption...the stockings that inflate that they put on you so that you don't develop any blood clots...Steve is plotting ways to take them home!!)