Stem Cell Harvest Day!!!!

Today was my last Neopogen injection yay, that was a new and different kind of pain I have never felt before.

Shortly after that I went over to the Hospital for a blood test and then into Interventional radiology for the Vas Cath placement.  This line was placed in my jugular vein which is in the neck and then run down into my heart. That procedure is not the funnest thing I could of thought of to do with my day but oh well what can you do.
After that I went to another floor to sit on a plasmaphersis machine for about 3 hours to collect the stem cells and some plasma. I then had to wait for the bag of stem cells to be taken down to the lab and counted. After the count came back good they removed the central line and sent me home.The two bags on my lap are what they collected, the yellowish one is  the stem cells and the dark one is plasma, they will also use the plasma to store the stem cells.  I have a small test on monday then Im going to fly home so this will probably be my last blog until I come back for the transplant were they will turn my immune system off and then give me my stem cells back but more on that later. =)

BY THE WAY  I was required to produce 2 million stem cells for the procedure and I produced about 13.8 million my first time around. I am a stem cell producing stud!!  =)    Here are some pics for your enjoyment.

 

 

Starting my injections

  Well this morning I started giving myself subcutaneous injections in the stomach, two injections of Neupogen  each morning for 6 days. This drug is used to increase the number of hematopoietic stem cells in the blood before collection by leukapheresis for use in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Once I finish the injections a temporary central line will be placed in my neck and the stem cells will be harvested.

Mobilization Day

For more in depth reading I will be creating hyperlinks on certain words look for them for definitions and fun facts. What can I say I'm bored!

           Mobilization day consist of about two days as an in-patient. They call it mobilization day because its the first stage and first drugs that are required to "mobilize" the stems cells out of the bone marrow and into the general blood stream. The next couple of weeks will consist of giving myself injections back at the condo which will further stimulate the manufacturing and release of the my stem cells. Below are some pictures of my hospital room the beautiful view overlooking Lake Michigan and pics of multiple pumps, bags and lines. We actually had to disperse the volume of the three IV pumps over both arms because I infiltrated a nice radial vein  =(    The catheter either slipped out, or the vessel just couldn't handle the volume. Either way I looked like a Borg. (for you sci-fi fans out there) Today was a pretty big dose of chemo even though it was only for one day and I won't have it again till March 1st or 2nd. It was also accompanied by lots of anti-nausea medication followed by way to many rounds of diuretics. My next post will probably be back at the condo giving myself the Neupogen Injections......  Until then enjoy some of the pictures below.

 

 

Arrival

Well we have arrive in Chicago, Dad and I have had a few days to catch up on sleep and settle into our condo. We have visited the local grocery stores and stalked up on goodies. Ready for mobilization on Monday.
Mailing address is:
Daniel Gibler
30 E Huron St. Suite 2610, Chicago IL ZIP. 60647

A quick video of my doctor and an autoimmune disease called scleroderma.

Bathroom



Please see some links on the upper right for more web sites and videos.

Below are pics of our condo here in Chicago



Living Room



Main Bedroom



Kitchen



Living Room