Day +1

Scott’s first night with the new cells was uneventful, which around here is a good thing.

I’ll be honest, I expected some tears (aside from my own), hugs, maybe an extremely rare (as in I’ve never heard it said) ‘I Love you’ between brothers during the transplant itself. Umm, no. Boiled down (though not much) this was the sentimental portion of the convo:

Nurse Jane: okay, we’re all done.

Scott: Well, thanks bro, appreciate it. 

Jeff: Ya man, of course.

Scott: We’ll crack my [very coveted] Sam Adams Utopia when this is all over.

Jeff: Cool. 

I’m teasing, but I guess this is how boys express their feelings to each other? Though that beer is really important to Scott, so that counts for something.

And they have me to be emotional over it anyways… 

Look at these two?   

They’ve gone from matching Osh Kosh to perfectly matched antigens. It is just so incredible how the stars aligned, with Jeff being the one to help Scott in the biggest way possible. Saving his life, giving him the best chance at staying cancer free for many, many years to come. 

Many people are asking “what’s next”? 

In the immediate future, we wait… Scott’s neuts are still at 0.4 which is giving him a small amount of protection from infection. Over the next couple days his counts will continue to fall, in response to the radiation and chemo he received, and he will be bottomed out. At this point he will have no immune system – his risk of infection is much higher, and he will likely feel like garbage and we will all be anxiously awaiting engraftment. During all of his previous chemo treatments he has come down with an infection that has required antibiotics. We are assuming that will happen again, but would happy to be proven wrong.

The next milestone will be engraftment, which is when Jeffs cells find their way from the blood to the marrow and start building a new immune system. Once this happens, typically between days 14-21, Scott should start to feel better as his body will be better equipped to heal and protect itself. This stage is so important. 

To help Jeffs stem cells reach the marrow, Scott’s immune system needs to be suppressed with steroids so that it doesn’t fight the intruders and prevent engraftment. The transplant is only effective once the new immune system starts to grow. These drugs will add to the aforementioned garbage state, but are essential. 

For today though, Scott’s not feeling so bad, considering what’s going on inside his body. Sunny skies and warmer weather are encouraging – even from behind a sealed window. He’ll be dockside at the cottage in no time.