Today is T=0, or transplant day!  The reason for the season.

11:33am: Joanne enters room, informs us she has the cells!  They were thawed this morning.  She asks us all to put on masks.  Those present in the room: Me (Michelle), Jen, Emily, Laurie, and Tim Hagan.  We’re all excited.  Dad is high on Benadryl, saying weird things.  Favorite nurses Becky and Eileen are present.

11:34am: “You had an excellent collection.”  Joanne continues to explain what the cells have been up to, including soaking in the DMSO, which smells like garlic.  They have  been suspended in hydrogen.  Weeeeird.

11:42am: “You’re going to smell like Italian food for a while.”  He will also have a garlic taste in his mouth while the stem cells are inserted, so he’s going to have some ice chips throughout the process.

11:45am: Reiterates how happy they were with his collection of stem cells, and that the stem cells are quality.

11:47am: This woman has more analogies and metaphors than a high school AP English teacher.  But she does say, “Today is the first day of the rest of your healthy life!”  Which I like.

11:51am: Jack Hagan arrives.  Tells us a few minutes later he has malaria and wonders if that’s okay.

11:53am: Joanne leaves to get the thawed cells.  Everybody in the room has a Jolly Rancher.

12:06pm: STEM CELLS INSERTED!!!  Through a large syringe (about the size of a caulking tube), slowly, and through the catheter in his chest.

12:08pm: I smell some garlic in the room.

12:09pm: Syringe #1 done.  Joanne leaves to get second batch of cells.

12:17pm: Syringe #2 inserted!

12:22pm: Done with the transplant!

“Everything’s not as bad as advertised.” -Mike Rose