Day 0 Part B

Jill warms up my stem cells using a basin of water at about 38 degrees Celsius. She continually kept the bag of cells in motion for 3 minutes in the water. After, they were ready, she handed the bag to Dr. Salih & he hung them above my bed & infused them as quickly as possible. There is only a 10 minute window of opportunity from thawing cells to infusion......or else the cells would spoil.
Once the infusion began, I started sucking on a strong spearmint candy. I was warned about a garlicky or burnt cream corn smell & taste I would noticed during & after the transplant. This smell & taste comes from the preservative mixed in with the Stem Cells.The first thing I started to feel was a constriction/tightness around my neck.....this eventually moved its way to my chest. This happens, because the Stem Cells are infused so quickly into the body. I even felt the stem cells running down my legs like a burning or tingling feeling. My nurses continually assured me that my vitals were doing well to keep me from panicking. They also told me to take slow deep breaths to control these symptoms.I received 4 bags of stem cells today totaling 2,700,000 cells. As I mentioned each bag had to be thawed & infused within a 10 minute time period.....therefore, it took approx. 40 minutes to deliver all 4 bags. In between each bag, there was a period of relief before the symptoms would start up again.....though they weren't as bad as the first 2 bags. At one point the constriction in my chest hit me so hard that I thought I was going to vomit......but managed to avoid that! After it was all over, I felt tired & relaxed enough to have a deep sleep for about 2 1/2 hours. When I woke, I felt better than I had in days.....my nurse Cathy brought me in a birthday present that they give all Bone Marrow/Stem Cell Transplant patients. It is a pewter sun catcher for my window. I have been told that they also give each transplant patient a special bone marrow/rainbow blanket as a souvenir.