Transplant Day -- "Day 0"

Today was the actual stem cell transplant, when the cells that were collected from Doug on March 10 were given back to him. This was not a surgical procedure --

a stem cell transplant may sound dramatic, but the actual procedure is simple. The cells were infused through Doug's central venous catheter. The procedure is similar to a blood transfusion.

The stem cells were frozen in a substance called DMSO (Dimethyl sulfoxide), which is used during the freezing process to prevent ice crystals from damaging the stem cells. For trivia buffs, the cells were stored in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of minus 120 degrees C. The first picture shows the containers that were brought over to the clinic from the hospital.

Doug got some pre-meds through his central line before the stem cells, along with saline to hydrate him. The drugs were: Kytril, Ativan, Benedryl, and Solumedrol (a steroid). He was not sedated but was drowsy.

While we were waiting, one of the social workers dropped in to see how Doug and I were doing.

The second picture shows one of the nurses putting the bag of frozen cells into a water bath to thaw. This was done immediately prior to infusion. There were two small bags of stem cells, totaling 5 million cells. Each bag took about five minutes to thaw.

The last picture shows Mary, one of our nurses, manually infusing the life-saving stem cells. She was also monitoring Doug for any signs of problems. Occasionally patients have a reaction to the DMSO, but Doug sailed right through. The cells are injected as quickly as the patient can tolerate - it took only about five minutes or so per bag. It really was amazingly low tech.

After the stem cells, a liter of saline took another two hours; the drugs can be hard on the kidneys so hydration is important. Lasix was given to help flush all the liquids. Doug was permitted to unplug his pump and roll it along for bathroom breaks!

We were in the clinic for six hours today.

Although nothing physically dramatic happened today, it was emotionally draining, at least for me. Doug is very tired.

The day stem cells are re-infused is called "Day O". Tomorrow is Day +1, and so on. Doug will be closely watched -- his counts should start falling in the next few days.

Now one more hurdle has been jumped, and we play the waiting game. Waiting for his blood counts to fall, and then to slowly rise again.