Day Zero: July 18, 2012 – Transplant Day

I woke up on Transplant Day full of energy, and in great spirits.  I got up and decided to go for a ride on my bike (I have my road bike on a trainer in my hospital room), and rode for 30 minutes.  After riding, I washed up in the bathroom and got dressed in my favorite soft pajamas.  My nurse came in and took all my vitals and told me that we were set for a transplant time of 12:00 noon, premeds at 11:30.  (High noon, really??  Could we be any more dramatic??!?)

I ordered  breakfast, and opted for a bigger breakfast than I usually eat – eggs and bacon and toast.  I figured I would likely not be eating until dinner, if even then!  My mom arrived just after I finished breakfast, and she helped me pick out a color to paint my fingernails and toenails.  I don’t know why, I just felt like being “girly” for this. I had just enough time to get my toenails done before it was time for the premeds.  They were giving me the typical Tylenol and Benadryl.   I chose some music to put on the iPod for the procedure, and just about 12:00, my doctor came in with the container holding my new bone marrow.  I was amazed at how small the bag of cells was!  The nurse hooked up all of the extra equipment that would be needed to monitor me during transplant, and also laid out all of the supplies needed should something not go according to plan.

After that, she hooked up the bag of cells to my IV, and verified all of the information with the doctor, and transplant began.  I was amazed at how simple a process it was – just as if I were getting any other transfusion of platelets or red blood cells.  Perhaps the texture was the only difference.  The bone marrow contained a lot of little particles that would get hung up in the IV filter.  My nurse kept having to squeeze it and flush it through the filter down to a syringe lower on the IV line.  It made the transplant longer … and infinitely more tedious for my nurse.  About 30 minutes into the transplant, I started to feel quite “odd.”  I began to get itchy and felt flushed.  The nurse paused the transplant and called for my doctor.  They checked me out, and did not see any obvious signs of anything serious.  Dr. G. decided to administer more Benadryl to guard against allergic reaction, then restarted the transplant.  The entire transfusion only took about 90 minutes, and really was quite sobering.  It was challenging to wrap my head around the fact that this tiny bag would ultimately be what saved my life.

My husband left shortly after the transplant was done to go pick up the boys from camp.  Mom stayed to make sure that everything was okay, and so I did not have to be alone.  It really was a comfort to have her there with me.  Overall, the transplant went well, without a hitch.  The nurse continued to monitor me over the next few hours, and eventually I got tired and took a nap.

Now the waiting begins.  It take about 14-21 days for bone marrow to engraft.  During that time, my blood counts will drop, I will be susceptible to fevers and other symptoms.  But the bottom line is… now I’m on the other side.  It is all a gentle uphill to healing now.

Song in my head today:

More Than a Feeling, Boston