The writers of this blog have recently been informed by its subject that “the success of your blog will depend on my input, in terms of humor and medical proticol.” Well O-kay! With that in mind, this posting was dictated by the man himself, Mike Rose:
The thinking is that: even though no tests or scans indicate any cancer, a stem cell transplant (and the chemo that you get while in the hospital) will get to any malignant cells that are in the blood. For a recurrence of lymphoma, a stem cell transplant is a necessary and very good option – a curative therapy, meaning that this can still be cured as opposed to treated. The ultimate goal is that this never comes back, and a stem cell transplant really increases the odds that it won’t.
The first day will mostly be IV hydration to prepare for chemo. Then on the subsequent 6 days I will be receiving several different chemotherapy drugs. This is a very potent combo and high dosage, and will be the toughest chemo to date. The intent here is to kill any cancer cells that haven’t been detected through blood work or PET scans.
THEN, on day 8, July 13th, it is Transplant Day! On this day, the stem cells that I harvested in May (which have been frozen, but not in our freezer) will be transfused back into the body. They are salmon colored! Apparently, the nurses (and I’m sure Emily) will decorate the room to celebrate this day. At this point, the immune system starts to build as the stem cells start to engraft. Stem cells, as hardly any of us know, are immature white blood cells, and come from the bone marrow. Now, the body can start to regain strength and counts rise.
During the second week, because the immune system has been weakened, I will be neutropenic. New-tro-peen-ick. Say it all together now: neutropenic. This means highly susceptible to infection. Infections often happen during stem cell transplants, and the doctors and nurses are prepared to recognize and treat them. As the counts begin to rise, the chance of infection diminishes.
After about three weeks, the counts should reach a level where it’s safe to leave the hospital. There will still be recovery time at home, but I’ll be on the upswing by this point!
