Alyssa and I went up to the clinic at 7:30 a.m. She got her blood drawn and then we had to wait for her counts from her blood. We then had to wait for 45 minutes to have the PA come in a talk to us. After the PA gave the okay to collect her stem cells, we went to the collection room and started that process.
They hooked her up to a machine that took out her blood and separated her stem cells and collected them in a iv bag. Her blood then went into another tube back to her body. They explained it to me that it is similar to giving platelets. They told her that her number on Monday was 2.6 and went up to 6.6. They took out more than what they needed in hopes that they could collect enough cells today so she wouldn't have to come in again for collection. It was a hard day for her. She had to lay very still from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. She was getting very frustrated after about 2 hours. The nurse gave her some medicine to relax her and she fell asleep. She was really hoping that she didn't have to do this again.
We just got a call from the clinic and they told us that we have very good news. They needed to collect 5-10 million cells. They collected 11.9 enough for 2 transplants! This means that she doesn't have collect again. The plan now is that they send some of her stem cells to get tested one more time to make sure that there is no more leukemia. This test takes a week to get back. We will then go in and talk to the doctors and be admitted to the hospital. We think that she will get admitted next Wednesday.
The nurse explained it to us about the transplant that made sense to us. Alyssa has APL and that means that her leukemia is in the tissue not in the bone marrow. Since the bone marrow is not damaged from the leukemia that is why she can donate her stem cells back to herself without the worry of the leukemia coming back.
All in all we started off with a rough day but had a very good ending. Still trying to sell our house. If anyone wants to buy it just let us know!
Yeah, you won't have to have any more stem cells taken out. You are doing such a great job Alyssa. Keep it up. You truly are amazing and deserve a big break after all this. Don't worry about having to be admitted to the hospital again. Once again its the same process, the goal is to get better and if you happen to be there longer then expected (Which I highly doubt and hope will not happen) then it does not matter. The important thing is you are getting better. We can celebrate your birthday a different day if necessary but we'll cross that bridge when it comes. You are doing great, and I love you so much. Can't wait to see you in about a week.
ReplyDeleteKeep on keeping on.
Bryan
So happy to hear that you are doing well!! Always thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Heather
Dear Alyssa and Annalee:
ReplyDeleteWe couldn't be happier for you and your family. For all who have been there, we know the struggles experienced on East 8.
Lisa, me and our entire family are absolutely thrilled to hear of your success. We sincerely wish for a long, happy life for you Alyssa filled with laughter and happy times, you deserve it.
Sincerely, The McAteers
Alyssa,
ReplyDeletePatrick and I (Shawn) used to donate plasma all the time for money to pay extra on our mortgages. They did the same thing - sucked the blood out of one arm, to a machine that separated the plasma, then back into the other arm. We kind of enjoyed it (something to keep in mind for future income opportunities). I'm just teasing. I'm glad things are going so well :)
Shawn