Hola Dad!
We miss you so much! We're saying our prayers and mantras so you can get better real quick, OK? We can't wait for you to come home. Our bellies need scratching and your face needs licking!
We love you muy muchos woofitos!
See you soon!
Your muppets, Stella and Greyson.

Day -5

Patrick had his last two radiation treatments today. So glad that's done! He's doing very well...some nausea but the meds took care of that. He has a four hour chemo infusion tomorrow at 10am so please, everyone, send some good vibes this way that he will tolerate it well.

Patrick's brother Seamus was in to COH today to start his preparations. He had his first two, of eight, Neupogen injections. The Neupogen will stimulate production of the stem cells that will be collected from Seamus and introduced into Patrick's system. These stem cells will grow into Patrick's new bone marrow and immune system.

I know I've said this before and I'll say it again and again, thank you all so much for your prayers, support, positive energy and intentions. They make all the difference!
Gracias!

Day -6

The view of Beautiful, snow capped, Mt. Baldy from Patrick's room

Great day today! I can't believe Patrick's conditioning is almost complete. I'm so proud of him. He's doing so well!

Patrick's room is about 1/4 mile's walk from the radiation clinic. Porters come, armed with a wheel chair, to take him back and forth to his appointments. Well, today, Patrick decided he'd like to walk. So he did. He walked back and forth to all of his treatments. Porters following along behind him, pushing an empty wheel chair. That's our Patrick!

His radiation treatments are a full body exposure of about 15 minutes per session. He has to stand perfectly still during the treatments. Special, custom made, shields are used to protect his lungs. Yesterday and today, in addition to his full body treatments, he received targeted, depth specific, radiation to treat his ribcage (front and back).

Now it's time for turkey and stuffed potato dinner, washed down with a little Modern Marvels on The History Channel.

Buenas noches!

Here's our girl, Molly, two weekends ago. After all she's been through, she sends her love and support to you boys too. She says "If I can do it, you can do it!" Woof! ;)
Marc & Tim

Hooping for you both! Miss you.

Elena and Brian

Hi Patrick,
I am sending you a picture of me under your desk. I miss you.

L
Bisou Klein Rancharan Goldwyn

Day -7

So beautiful out today! We sat for a while by the giant plate glass window facing the San Gabriel mountains and worked on an impossible jigsaw puzzle. I think I'll bring in a puzzle with LARGER pieces ;)
Patrick had three radiation treatments today. That's six done and five to go! A little tired today, but doing very well. Three more treatments tomorrow and two on Friday followed by one Chemo infusion on Saturday. He sends hugs and kisses to you all. thank you for being so supportive!

If you'd like to post a photo or a short video, please send it to me at Isaac@IsaacPrado.com
Gracias!

Day -8

Patrick had three radiation treatments today. He did super well! He had a little nausea but not too bad. He had several Staff visitors today...occupational therapist, physical therapist, recreational therapist, patient advocate and a nutritionist. They all popped in throughout the day to introduce themselves and say hello. And let's not forget his awesome Nurse, Reggie, and Patient Care Assistant, Marina. They Rock!
He just finished his dinner a little while ago. The food here is actually pretty good! He can order anything he likes from the menu at any time during the day. They even have snacks available to him after kitchen hours! We'll see how the Prado kitchen compares when he goes home ;)
Patrick's got a full day tomorrow so it's a little TV time with Vanna and Pat and then off to bed.

All Settled In

All of his appointments went well and Patrick is settled in to his room now. He got an East facing room with an awesome view of snow capped Mt. Baldy...and the 605 fwy ;)
He starts his radiation treatments early tomorrow morning.
He's asked me to thank you all for your support. This means so much to both of us!

Day -9

Here we are bright and shiny at the COH. Patrick had his first appointment at 8am for his Palifermin infusion to build up and protect (from the radiation and chemo) his mucus membranes in his mouth, throat and GI tract. We have a full day of appointments... nutritionist, blood draw, labs and a meeting with Dr. Smith. Patrick's room will be ready for him sometime between 1 and 6pm. Everyone please keep your fingers crossed he gets a north facing, mountain view, room! I've already tried bribing the nurses!

More Prep

We had an appointment today at COH to have Patrick's PICC line put in today. He had two excellent nurses and a little local anesthetic. It took no time at all and went very well. All you could hear were chuckles and laughing coming from the treatment room. Patrick cracking up the nurses.His arm is a little sore at the insertion site but nothing a little Tylenol won't fix.

Getting Ready

Hello everyone!


First of all, I want to thank you all so much for your support, prayers and good wishes. We are very blessed to have such an amazing circle of friends and family. I don't know how we would get through this without you all.


Five years ago Patrick was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). It was a scary time but he was able to begin a drug therapy, called Gleevec, that was very effective in controlling his CML. 85% of patients who go on Gleevec are able to stay on it indefinitely with amazing results. After five successful years of treatment on Gleevec, Patrick became resistant to the medication. Needless to say, it was a dark day when we got that news. He underwent several blood labs and a bone marrow biopsy and began a new, more aggressive, drug therapy called Tasigna. He's been seen by the best doctors at Cedars, UCLA Medical and City of Hope and they all agree that it's time for a bone marrow transplant. Fortunately, when Patrick was first diagnosed five years ago, his siblings were all screened as potential donors and his brother Seamus turned out to be a perfect match.


So here we are...


Patrick is being treated at City of Hope (COH) by Dr. David Snyder, Associate Transplant Director and the incredible staff at COH.



Seamus and his lovely wife Olivia have flown over from Ireland. And Seamus has begun the process at COH. He's been poked and prodded and they are very happy with his results. A perfect match! His procedure will be relatively non invasive. Stem cells will be harvested from his blood during a process that takes several hours. These cells will then be introduced intravenously into Patrick's system and will then grow into his new bone marrow and immune system. No more CML! Science is amazing!



Patrick has a few more visits to COH over the weekend and will be admitted on Monday the 26th to begin his conditioning (radiation and Chemo) to prepare for his transplant.



That's it for now. I'll keep you all posted as we move forward.

Be well,

Isaac