The transplant is done. It was about as exciting as a routine dental exam. They came in, and instead of connecting me to a clear bag of solution, they connected me to a bag of something that looked like light grape juice, which were my stem cells. To me, it was an exciting and signifying moment in this whole process; to my nurse it was just like hanging a bag of saline. Except they take a few more precautions, as I noted in my earlier entry, and they know the importance of the liquid in the bag. I found out afterwards, much much afterwards, that they have a special syringe they would use in case any of the contents of the bag dripped onto the floor; damn the risk of infection. To me, these cells are worth their weight, well, worth more to me than almost anything on this blue and green planet we all reside.
They represent my hopes, dreams and most importantly, my future.
The next steps are tricky, and will involve much more on my part than my nurses and doctors. The high-dose chemo I just had destroyed my bone marrow. Because of this, my blood cells aren't being replaced, so as they die off there aren't more to do their job. As my cell counts drop to zero - my red, white and all other blood cells will drop to basically a zero per cc ml count - i will become the following: neutropenic, anemic and highly prone to infections caused from outside and INSIDE my body. It sounds scary, it is horrible to think about it, and I'll be completely honest, I'm a little terrified about what will happen over the next 10 - 14 days. But, on my side are the doctors and nurses who will be keeping a really close watch on me and try to make it as tolerable as possible.
Notice I didn't say painless, because most likely I will be in a fair bit of pain. As I said in my earlier post, my mouth hurts, which is only the start of the process. Read up on the neutropenia for why. Google mucousitis for more information on that side effect as well. I'd describe it for everyone, but it's even enough for me to not want to think about it for the time being.
Anyway, I have good news. The stem cells, the liquid gold they put back in me today, will be taking hold in my bone marrow. Somehow they know where in the body to go, and what to do when they get there. Once the stem cells get into my bones, within a few days from now, they'll start multiplying and replacing my depleted marrow. Which means a day or two after that, after they've multiplied and done whatever else it is they do, they'll start to make new cells for me. New life. Starting over, this time hopefully with a clean, cancer-free slate.
Well, I've made everyone cry enough for tonight. Now my journey begins. Don't worry about me over the next few days. I'll make it through it fine. It just won't be easy, but then again, nothing ever really worth having in life ever is.
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