Transplant Day

Today I received the stem cells which will become my new immune system! The infusion itself was relatively uneventful (a gravity-fed bag of cells flowed into my PICC line for about an hour) but it represents a big day for me and a shot at one day having a healthy immune system. After the infusion the transplant team came in and sang happy birthday to celebrate!

While I spent the last week in the hospital focused on getting through chemotherapy to gear up for this transplant day, the next few weeks are focused more on preventing infections and managing symptoms related to the continuing drop in my immune function as my white blood cell count approaches zero. Realizing that I’m going to be feeling a lot worse before I start feeling better again, I don’t plan on updating this website until near the end of my hospital stay when my numbers begin to elevate again (which fingers-crossed is a couple of weeks from now). For now I’m happy to report that things are looking good and I’m eager to continue on this arduous but exciting journey!