"Pee. Read. Sleep." -Louie (to do list before bed)

Today is day zero. The day of the stem cell "boost". 2.2 million of Louie's healthy stem cells intended to give renewal after two days of chemo were delivered in a very uneventful, ordinary manner (a syringe via his port, 6 hours of collection took 15 minutes to infuse). We watched the first Harry Potter movie where (this only just occurred to me) he learns he is a wizard. Hmmmmm. The stem cells were frozen and stored in a preservative (of course) which, there is no denying this, stinks. Literally. I'm trying to be cool but this room smells like canned cabbage (if that's such a thing). They said we'd adjust to it and in a few days it would be gone. Or maybe we'll be that family that's oblivious to our malodor. Fine by me. I would smell like this forever to have Louie.

A definite improved day. He didn't get sick, was more alert (i.e. awake), had an entire box of raisins and some dry cereal and spoke more as the day advanced. If he feels good tomorrow, we will be homeward bound but they expect us back within days as it's likely he'll develop a fever and need antibiotics. The other option is to stay here until day 9 to 10 (many do). Here's to our home smelling like canned cabbage tomorrow. It's the new pumpkin spice don't you know?