I GOT MY PROPERTY BACK TODAY. That’s right folks, half my frozen stem cells were put back in circulation this afternoon. A fascinating process that involved liquid nitrogen, a water bath, my new pal the IV tower, and my old pals the danglers.
This is day 0 in the transplant sequence, since yesterday was day -1. The nurses who handled the entire procedure wrote “Happy Birthday” on the white board opposite my bed, since it is truly the moment of birth for my new, improved immune system.
SO IT BEGINS. I’m here at UAMC for day -1 of my autologous stem cell transplant.
Today I received my dose of melphalan, the chemo drug that essentially erases my immune system and most remaining cancer cells by attacking all fast-dividing cells. There will be some side effects, but nothing I can’t handle.
I have a new friend — an I.V. tower on wheels that is connected to my CVC catheter at all times. Mostly it is used to keep me hydrated, so there’s a bag of saline hanging all the time. It was also used to deliver the chemo dose. So far I feel OK with just a brief bout of nausea. After a couple of pills to counter that, I’m doing fine and even had an appetite for supper. Continue reading And Awayyy We Go!
ANTICIPATION BUILDS when you get ready for a stem-cell procedure.
How does it feel?
Like I’ve been waiting in the queue for a while and now it’s nearly my turn to board the roller coaster.
Once I’m strapped in, I become mere payload for the duration. But afterwards, I’ll be bragging to everyone who will listen about how epic it was.
© James Tenser 2014
MY FIRST HARVEST was pretty productive, with in the neighborhood of 5.6 million stem cells collected. You need a minimum of 3 million for a single transplant procedure, so that’s not bad.
But the docs need me to bank enough for two procedures — one for now and another for later. That leaves me 400,000 short of the 6 million cell minimum target, so I’m back at the clinic this morning for a second and final round of collection. Based on my good performance yesterday, this particular goal should be in the bag. Continue reading In the Bag