This is my first entry into this journal which I hope will chronical Bruce's transplant and be some place for me to write my feeling and thoughts on this whole thing. We do have a blog on caringbridge.com but that is read by everybody we know.

His transplant is scheduled for April 14th or 15th depending on the donor's ability to produce stem cells.

Things are moving very fast, sometimes I think to fast -- he was diagnosed in May and it's not even a year and here we are doing a transplant. I realize this has to be because of the extreme nature of his cancer.

He was diagnosed with CLL with Richter's Transformation. Which takes CLL and transforms it into something very aggressive. So now we not only have lukemeia but we also have lymphomia.

He has had 3 different types of chemo in the last year developed pneumonia and almost didn't make it. Been to Kessler for rehab after the pneumonia and made a 10 day trip to Israel and accomplished everything he set out to do there.

He is much loved by his family especially his nieces and nephews most of whom are in their 30's and 40's now, as they were growing up he showed the love and respect and treated them as adults and that love for him is being returned a thousand fold.

Bruce and I have been married for 35 years and have 3 girls Andrea, from my previous marriage, Judy and Becky (who has down syndrome). He was married twice before his first marriage end when is wife Elizabeth was killed in a car crash and he was driving. He then married Debbie and they have 1 son Scott - but there has been no contact until the last few weeks. After their divorce Debbie and Scott seemed to disappear.

Well, that's a little background but now to get back to the reason for this journal, we are now at day -8 on day -13 Bruce was given Rituxin with no real side effects except for feeling very tired after doing anything although he does try to help around the house a little. On Tuesday day -7 he will be having a caheter put in to handle all the additional IV lines. (He already has a PIC line in which they will keep in.) Then on day -5 he will enter HUMC for 5 days of extreme chemo and then he will have the transplant on either the 14th or 15th.

That's it for now but I will try to write at least one a day when Bruce goes into the hospital.