It's Transplant Day!!

The day we have waited for finally arrived! The transplant team said it would be kind of anti-climatic and it sort of was. But we are thankful that everything went along very smoothly and was a little boring, but we like boring! (as opposed to the alternative) They were scheduled to start this morning at 11 am, but because of an earlier transplant in another room that went longer than expected, they got started at 12:55. He was given 6 bags of stem cells and finished at about 2 pm. It was a little like a party in that some of the staff were all coming in to wish him well and see how things were going. They even said we should be singing "Happy Birthday" or some sort of welcome home song to his returning cells.
They hooked him up to oxygen and a heart monitor and checked his vitals before and after every bag to make sure everything was going well. They had warned us that some of the side effects could be, a rise in blood pressure, severe flushing and nausea. He didn't have any of those and they said that was rare. Also a weird side effect of the preservative that the cells are stored in is a "creamed corn" or "garlic" smell in the room. Even that was very minimal.
He slept quite a bit after he was done because of the pre-meds that they gave him, but felt well enough to eat dinner. They told us that within about 45 minutes the stem cells migrate right back to the space in the marrow where they were taken. They don't fully understand how this happens, it's amazing. So now we move forward to day +1, +2, and so on to "engraftment", when the cells start to make new blood cells. He will be in the hospital for another 10-14 days until that happens.
It is a very interesting, well orchestrated process and a little nerve racking when you consider what they are actually doing to your body. This whole process takes you kind of to the brink of death and then they "rescue" you, (that is what they call it.) It has been an exciting day for us and we are thankful all went well. Thanks so much for all of your good wishes and concern. We are so blessed to have so many friends and family praying for us. We love and miss you so much!

Zed and Lannis