Transplant day

I slept OK, and at about 6:30am they gave me cyclosporine - a four hour IV drip. I was hoping to pop over and see Harry donating his cells, but my blood counts have dropped really low and I am again neutropenic, so I am advised to stay in my room.

Harry came over after his donation, but he had to go back to give blood for a post check, and also to find out if they got enough cells or if he needs to come back tomorrow. The treatment was not too bad, but he did get a cold sweat which they treated with potassium.

Harry came back later, and saw his cells being infused Into me! It is quite bizarre in some senses. I am still hooked up to them now, it will take about 2 hours to finish. The nurse put a cannula in especially for the cells, because they are not pumped, just fed by gravity. If they use the PICC line it would take far too long because the PICC line is much more sluggish than a cannula. They got enough cells this time, so Harry does not have to come back tomorrow, which is great.

This is quite a monumental day really. It is the coming few weeks and then the following 3 months that are the tough times. I am glad that Harry managed to donate the cells without too much discomfort, and I am very grateful that he has done so. It should take 10 to 14 days for Harry's cells to engraft in my bone marrow. Before that I have the chance of infection, and after that graft versus host disease.

I hope that my taste will not be altered too much by the chemo I have just had, but time will tell.


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