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
IRREVERENT AS IT MAY SEEM, after 15 months of diagnostics and 10 months of chemo treatments for Myeloma I’ve invented a new parlor game for my own amusement.
I call it “SoS” and it’s about guessing the underlying causes of a host of consequences I have experienced since my Myeloma saga began. Symptom? Side-Effect? Sometimes it’s not easy to tell. What follows may seem a little sardonic, but please trust me, none of these issues have been more than I (or anyone) can tolerate. They can also be a little funny at times (at least to me): Continue reading SoS: Symptom or Side-Effect?
THE MOMENT HAS ARRIVED to collect the stem cells I will need to donate to myself for my transplant next week.
I’m posting from the UA Cancer Center where I am connected to a machine that pumps my blood in and out of my body through my CVC catheter. The device is called a cell separator or apheresis machine, and it has clear plastic tubes that are connected to my “danglers” (remember them?).
The connections mean I must be confined to a bed for four hours today. Glad there’s good WIFI here in the clinic, so I can distract myself in various ways, including a bit of reading about my new mechanical companion. Continue reading Harvest Time