Boosting

Last night, Carol & I arrived back in Frostbite Falls, MN.  We flew from DFW into Minneapolis-St. Paul (from one twin cities to the other), then caught a shuttle on to Rochester. It is a balmy 7 degrees here at 10:00 in the morning (balmy, as in insane, not balmy sunny and warm).

We have received insurance approval to proceed, so this afternoon, I begin Step 3 of the transplant process, boosting. Today through Sunday, I will receive injections in the stomach of a drug called neupogen to trick my body into producing more stem cells than normal. This will force the stem cells, which normally like to hang around in the bone marrow, out into the normal flow of the blood stream. Other patients tell me it doesn’t hurt, but little do they understand my low definition of “doesn’t hurt.”

After this afternoon’s appointment, I will go over at 6:45 or 7:45 each morning for my injection, and then they will check stem cell concentrations early Sunday evening. If there isn’t a large enough concentration of stem cells in the blood stream by Sunday, they’ll hang a sign (by drug) onto the entrances back into the bone marrow that says “no stem cells allowed,” and they will back up and be forced to accumulate in the blood.

 Friday, I am also to have a palindrome installed, which will be a couple of tubes coming out from a central vein in chest, to facilitate all the blood working coming up. It is also referred to as a “central line,” not to be confused with an Illinois Central Line, or Southern Central Line.

If all goes according to plan, we will begin Step 4, Harvesting the Stem Cells, on Monday.