Stem-cells received...Now it's a waiting game.

I'll start with the good news. Got my stem-cells back today at 2:30 pm. You don't feel anything and it goes very quickly. Just three very small bags of clear liquid. Mine were different from what other people get because they were the ultimately small CD34 selected cells. That means absolutely NO other mature white blood cells. The CD34 cells are the precursor to every other cell in your bone marrow. These little guys are the very beginning of everything. This means that my graft may come in a few days slower to start, then not truly be a fully funtioning immune system of up to a year. This doesn't mean I won't have good protection from things at 6ish months, just that it's about a year until all things are back up to normal levels.

I did feel kind of crappy today, which is to be expected. The chemo catches up with everybody eventually. So, I'm happy I tolerated it's actual infusion well, but the side effects are going to come in some form eventually. Basically, a bit nauseated with lack of appetite, poopin' a bit more if you know what I mean, a pretty constant dull headache, and a bit of fatigue setting in as my red blood cell counts slips below '30.' Of course the RBCs carry the oxygen to your body, so the fatigue is from getting less oxygen. Platelets are hanging in there, but everybody needs platelet infusions eventually, so I probably got 5ish days left before they plummet. I did have 1/2 a turkey sandwich today and kept it down, so I think I'll try something small for dinner too.

And, the kids (and Casey) are out of school for the Christmas break. Always something both kids and teachers look forward to. A couple of weeks to decompress, enjoy the holidays, and get your teaching/learning levels back up. It was so nice since 2003 to have this time off from my work each year (we always closed the day before Christmas through New Years) to spend with the family. I, again, hope you all have a successful run-up to your holidays.

Mike