Transplant Day Arrives

Some days you wake up at 7 am, take a shower, go to work, come home, make dinner and go to bed.

And then there are the rare days when you get up at 7 am, head to your nearest cancer center to donate your stem cells, and save a life.

Genie saved a life today.

And she was a real trooper! She arrived at the pheresis lab at 8 am this morning "ready, willing and able" to do whatever was asked of her. After lying in bed immobile for nearly six hours, the collection was complete and it was time for the team to literally walk the cells down the hall to her waiting and grateful brother.

(Afterwards she was told that she had done her job so well that she provided enough stem cells for two recipients!)

At exactly 4:48 pm Eastern Standard Time, Gil received the new stem cells in a simple and quietly profound transfusion that will change his life forever.

No time was wasted -- the cells were in within 30 minutes.

What happens next?

Genie's stem cells will course their way through Gil's body and find their way to his bone marrow. His own marrow cells were completely destroyed with the most recent round of chemo. As Genie's cells take up residence in Gil's marrow, Gil begins the next phase of his recovery which is called engraftment. (A friend suggests "eng-RAFF-ment.")

There will be side effects that are expected during this phase of the recovery process.

Gil is feeling good today with only a few episodes of discomfort. His team tells him he is doing extremely well at this stage of things and we are encouraged.

Haiku:

Long awaited day

Godspeed to these new stem cells.

Go find your new home.