It’s Friday night football. What a donnybrook against the big arch-rival from across town! The next morning you feel like a Mac truck used you as a tackling dummy. No pain. No gain.

The centerfielder is going back…back…back. He feels the warning track and leaps, crashing into the wall but feels the swoosh of a ball in his glove. He crumples to the ground, not quite sure if it is his back, hips or legs that hurt the most. The batter is retired. No pain. No gain.

Multiply that pain by ten and that is how Dave is feeling right now. The good news is our nurse informed us that this “good pain” is more than they had hoped. His bone marrow is “chugging” and working overtime to regain normal counts. The WBC is now above normal. The platelets are rapidly rising and his hemoglobin is in a safe range to avoid transfusions today. The BMT is proving not only to be successful but incredible.

The Karmanos staff is now taking Dave off anti-fungal and anti-biotics in preparation for releasing him to home care. They have discontinued steroids and many other medications that either protect organs or inspire bone marrow to produce efficiently and effectively. His body will need to be a well-honed working machine without much assistance from medications before he can breath some fresh air.

Dave should be crossing home plate sometime this week. Standing up. No slide needed. No pain. No gain.