Day 0

I guess this blog is more for me to get my thoughts/feelings/events down. It's kind of cathartic.

So, today was insane! First, my flight into Dallas was delayed by heavy fog. After considering driving and paying for a new ticket to another airport, I luckily arrived to Love Field 10 minutes before transplant time. As I lugged my belongings (enough to last me three weeks) down the narrow hallway full of cancer patients and doctors, I spotted my mom's oncologist. She says, "you are just in time" and pointed behind me. My mom's stem cells were being wheeled down the hall in a gigantic vault!! We ended up entering her room at the same time.

The transplant began with tons of nerves and excitement. The cells were cryogenically frozen in eight small IV bags stored in small envelope sized boxes. Each bag was scheduled to take 15 minutes. The whole procedure began at 11:00 and ended at 4:00. We were warned that the stem cells would smell like creamed corn, and I can guarantee you I will NEVER eat that again (not that I ever really did). The first 3 bags went smoothly. Each took about 20 minutes. My mom felt good throughout this whole part. Then... the fourth bag. The nurse tried to unhook the IV port that feeds into my mom's port and realized it was stuck! The nurses fidgeted with it for 5 of the longest minutes of the day and once they realized it was broken, I ran to get Dr. V. She advised that we drain it into and a syringe, however, there were still stem cells in the line. They tried the best they could to drain the line back into the IV bag before they stuck in the syringe. As the Ann Gohl, the nurse from Carter Blood Center began, I heard an "oh no!" I jumped up to see what happened and just as I got to the bag, the blood and cells flung all over the floor. I tried to grab the line that was still draining out when Ann somehow pinched it off. I think we lost about a shot worth of blood. I ran back to ask Dr. V. if this was okay and she assured me that there are millions of stem sells left so we wouldn't need to worry. I think my heart froze. And my poor mom's face! I am still shaken from the experience. I guess time will tell if the extra cells matter or if they were contaminated. My mom says there is nothing we can do now. The crazy thing is that I asked Dr. V about this very incident before we signed any papers initiating the process. She told me a story about one of her years in medical school when a bag broke and landed all over the floor. She said they just scooped it up, sterilized it, and IVed it back in the patient's body. The patient was fine. So, this has been a running joke in our family. I can't believe it actually happened!!

The final 4 bags went smoothly. We all cried and thanked life. She is on the road to recovery. She is extremely exhausted but has so much fight in her. The doctor says that in about 3 days she will feel like she was hit by a truck. Then she gets her white blood cell shot and her levels should start to recover about 14 days later.

The nurse just checked her vitals which are all strong. She is resting now (it's 5:30) from all the benedryl, antibiotics, antivirals, and anti-nausea meds pumped into her. Glad the day is coming to an end and tomorrow will begin the plus days!