Day -6…let the counting begin!

Scott was admitted to hospital yesterday (back in room #9) to begin preparing for transplant. He had his PICC line removed from his right bicep, and his Hickman Catheter surgically inserted into his chest. This was followed by a long day of waiting/recovery in ODS. We were happy to see that one of our fave nurses Justin was assigned to Scott for the next few days, and he even allowed us to leave the hospital for a quick dinner after we settled Scott in. The day felt very familiar, as did the stiffness/soreness he experienced after the sedation/freezing wore off, but overall it was a smooth return.

Scott’s brother Jeff arrives today from Montreal (with his girlfriend and new puppy) and will begin his prep for donation tomorrow which involves an injection to stimulate stem cell growth. Wondering how this process is completed? Well here, I have done the googling for you 🙂

To collect peripheral stem cells, the donor is injected with a substance that increases the quantity of stem cells circulating in the blood.

The cells are then harvested using a process called apheresis. Blood is taken from the donor’s arm with a needle, and flows into a centrifuge. This device filters out the stem cells, and the remaining blood is injected back into the donor with the same needle.

hema-quebec.qc.ca

We had a meeting with his transplant team last week, where all the details and “what to expects” were addressed (again). Obviously it was heavy and the coming months will not be glamorous, but there was comfort in not hearing/googling/worrying about everything for the first time. But like last time, the bullet point we took out of it was that all the risk, and side effects of a second transplant are outweighed by the increased chance of Scott evicting Lukemia from his body for good. Of him being declared “cured” 10..20..75 years down the line.

Friday is here, snow is falling and the first chemo bag has been hung. The next five days will involve some strong chemo blends, a cocktail of meds to help prevent nausea/seizures/graft rejection and likely some boredom.

Let’s go!