Stem Cell Collection Day

Mom & I were up early today so we could be at the hospital for 7:30am. After the nurse collected samples of my blood, we headed off to get some breakfast while we waited to find out the test results.

The lab was slow today so we didn't find out our results until after 11am. While we waited I had a visit from George the Social Worker. He took my medical history & asked a bunch of questions to assess whether I am prepared to go ahead with SCT. The Social Worker wants to see if I have a primary caregiver in place to help me during & after the procedure, and that I am ok financially, emotionally etc. Fortunately, I am doing fairly well in all areas....






I also had a visit from my nurse, Angie who is the research coordinator for the study I am involved with. She is outstanding at her job.....highly efficient& organized.....lots of positive energy....with a great personality.







Good News!! My counts for 34+ white cells passed the test. They needed to measure at least 5 million/kg of my weight & they measured 27 million. Therefore, it is a go ahead for my Stem Cell Collection.

My nurse Cathy hooked me up to the aphaeresis machine around 11:30am. My blood is drawn out of my hickman line into the machine where the whites, reds & platelets are all separated in layers.



The Stem Cells come from the white cells and are removed from my blood into a bag.

Only about 1/2 a cup of blood is in the machine at one time ....after my stem cells are removed then the rest of my blood enters back into my body via my hickman line.

Mom was with me all day being extremely attentive to all my needs....I certainly feel cared for at all times!!!

Coleen (my one & only sister) popped in for a few minutes on her way to work. She works on the same floor that I am having my procedure but a different section of the hospital...

She will be with me tomorrow when I go back for another day of collection. So you can see that I am not lacking for support of my family!

We finished with the collection at 3:30pm. and then I had to go see the hospital dentist for an x-ray & a check-up to make sure there were no concerns heading into transplant. He said I was good to go!! Yippee....I passed another test....

On our way home from the hospital my nurse, Cathy called on my cell phone to tell me that my collection went very well. In order for me to proceed with the SCT, they need to be able to collect 2.5-5 million stem cells. They collected 2.7 million stem cells in one day.....so technically we have enough already....however, she thinks that the doctor will probably want me to collect more tomorrow so that we have plenty to get me back on my feet again after transplant!

Tomorrow, I will be hooked up at 8am. for further collection of my cells until they hear from the doctor.