To get
to the transplant stage, your cancer needs to be in control. Not
necessarily completely gone, but close. Wipeout chemo will do the rest.
Worst.ever. Exhausts, debilitates. Takes you to the brink. When your
body is "clean," your cells are harvested. Frozen. Saved. Several days
later, bombardier chemo again. Short wait. Your cells are returned.
Hospitalization for a month or until your levels return. Complications
int
errupted and extended the time frame
three months because of surgeries to save my finger. Since you cannot
receive chemo with an open wound, we had to wait for a nail to regrow.
I remember during the harvest chemo thinking this is what dying must
feel like. I am not afraid of death; I grew up in a funeral home around
the corner from a beautiful historic cemetery. So I'm not skittish about
such things. But this chemo does take you to the edge. Then brings you
back. To go through this chemo again in 8 days, after 2.5 years of chemo
before--not sure I would have made it. But the delays for surgery were
as lifesaving as getting my transplant.
Without a doubt, I would
do this again. May even have to. Your transplant statistically should
"work" for five years. Most last for life. At my age, I may not ever
need that second batch they harvested (they always pull enough for two
transplants in case the first doesn't "take"). But if need be, I'm game.
After all, it saved my life and I am very grateful.
#tblgratitudechallenge #stemcelltransplant #savingyourlife
First image is how they package your cells, in small batches. They are
thawed just barely, enough to push through this tubing. I took pictures
during the process.
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