Transplant Day

I am happy to report the transplant was successful. And the day was uneventful as we hoped. Mom said as she left the house, 'I have work to do.' Couldn't have put it any better!

We arrived at the Radiation Oncology clinic about 11:30 this morning. In preparation for the radiation, Debbie (with a slight British accent) told Mom she could just 'pop' into her pajama pants she'd brought. Mom responded that they were K-State pants. Debbie said, 'well just this once.' We all laughed yet I reckon it's good we only needed radiation once. :)

Mom was the only one that went into the room. But she said it's very dull. Most everything was plywood including the chair she was sitting in. They treated both sides using a sheet of plexiglass with plywood on either end of it for about 20 - 25 minutes. She had some tape on various parts of her body with red lines on them so Debbie could line up the proper places to radiate.

After mom was all radiated up, we went over to the Med Center where they were harvesting Walt (interpret that however you'd like). He sat through 5.5 hours of 2.5 Star Wars episodes. The woman next to him asked what channel it was on as he was leaving b/c she wanted to watch! But he did give plenty for the transplant and they actually froze enough for another. That was one step complete. There's always a potential that enough won't be harvested resulting in another round of Neupogen, etc...and of course delaying the transplant.

Room 4216 was the room for the day. Really the whole process was pretty interesting if you think about the fact they're literally changing her DNA. One bag, one hour, and you would have thought it was someone just getting blood other than the slightly different color (more of a yellowish red). The nurse came in with the cells and a message from Walt:

'5 hours of Star Wars and we have it figured out:

- The little guys win and no one likes the bad guys.

- Sara (Walt's cousin) and I send our love and my strength.

- Here are 438 mLs of little guys'

Here's a better pic of the transplant going on for those wondering what the actual harvest looks like.

So we're back home after 4 hours of observation (departing at 8:30 PM), and will return to the clinic at 7:30 AM tomorrow for the first of many follow-up appointments. The further we get from the transplant, the more spread out they'll get. But I'll attempt to post daily for the next 5 days or so with a recap of each visit.

Mom's work is complete for today with many steps to go. But I think we can all agree she'll sleep well tonight having this done.