You and your husband have the right attitude! This is an adventure in healing. My husband and I had to relocate to Rochester for 4 months for my procedure. Intitially, the thought of that just left us wide-eyed…but we’d weathered a lot together over our years and this would be a new adventure, medically related with new vocabularies, meds we’ve never heard of and an experience like no other. But wow, was it worth it!! I was super healthy before this all happened and super healthy again.

My transplant doctor gave me all the details too. And when I point blank asked him if I’d be here in 2 years if I didn’t have the transplant, he gave the ‘iffy’ move with his hand. Then I asked if I’d be here 5 years from now. He replied, “No, you won’t”. Well, here I am five years later, durable remission, 70 and still putting on 7-10 miles walking daily! So, your husband has the spirit of endurance needed to embrace this journey and you two will plow right through it! 😉

Being an inpatient for 4-6 weeks will take the brunt of the care off your shoulders. Those are the toughest weeks so by the time he goes home this is all manageable and less ‘tense’ with the day to day business that can come in the first weeks. I actually didn’t mind the outpatient experience. We were right next to the clinic in a hotel and very convenient. If I needed to be in the hospital for anything, I was immediately admitted. It was an amazing experience at Mayo. But each clinic has their own protocols and Northwestern will take outstanding care of your husband and you. ☺️

It’s my pleasure to be able to mentor others going through the same process. I really do feel I have found my voice here so thank you for your kind words. I didn’t have anyone I knew or could talk to before my transplant or AML. It can sure help to be able to speak with someone who has walked the walk.

Speaking of! There was a cool article written a couple years ago about a young woman I mentored who had AML and a SCT. I seldom get to meet someone I mentor in Connect personally so this was a rare treat. You might enjoy reading about Sky and our parallel journeys.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/about-connect/newsfeed-post/mayo-clinic-connect-brings-together-2-women-with-leukemia-46-years-apart/

So don’t be shy about asking any questions. I’m here and so are many others to walk you both through this.

Hi, mary612. Thank you for sharing your story. I am a 10 year survivor of allogeneic transplant for AML in 2013. I was 59 at the time.
Everything you and your husband are feeling is completely normal. I went from great hope to great fear, day by day. I learned to give myself grace for however I was feeling that day. If the day was bad, at the end I locked it in a closet and shut the door. Every day is a new start and that helped me manage the anxiety and uncertainty.
I am a woman of faith and believed that every day of my life was already written. I repeated that to myself A LOT! I have a controlling personality and this was an important lesson for me. You have exactly the right idea, stay in the day!
I also am a caregiver, so asking for help as a single person was not my strength. So the lesson here was when I needed help, others experienced the same good feelings I had as a caregiver (duh!)
One last thought (before this becomes a novel), humor helps. I was not so keen on being bald, but someone told me I had a very round head! I am not sure is that is a good thing or not, but now I know.
You will be in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you for reaching out.