WE HAVE STEM CELLS!

Mom is doing well!

She had her stem cell transplant just after 2pm yesterday. It was about an hour late from what we were told in the morning. Which of course did nothing for Mom's anxiety. It took about 20 minutes and was an amazingly simple process.

Mom was anxious and nervous... teary all morning. She rested and we took a walk. She found a stationary bike at the end of the hall, and rode over a Mile!!!! We had a simple lunch and chatted and took lots of pictures.

There was the potential for problems - shock, even death. But luckily everything went perfectly!

Her nurses, Paula and Stephanie, stayed about 20 or so minutes after the end of the transplant to make sure everything was ok. About a half hour after that, the nurses, doctors, etc on the floor came in and sang "Happy T-Day" to Mom and gave her a big gold balloon.

She was just beaming after the sing-along!

We have been blessed so far. Now it's just a matter of not rejecting these stem cells and beating this shitty disease.

Interesting Facts:

1. You could actually see the Stem Cells travelling through the lines from the bag to the Hickman Port in Mom's chest.
2. It will take about 4 days for the Stem Cells to travel to their perfect resting place within Mom's body to everywhere that they need to be. And they get there through the blood stream all by themselves. Pretty Darn Cool if you ask me.
3. Once this whole thing is a success, Mom's blood type will match her Stem Cell Donor's, even if it is different than what hers is now! So... Mom was born as a B- (haha, B Negative), and her Stem Cell Donor is a B+. Well, after Mom's body accepts the transplant and grows her own immune system back, she will now match the Donor's type: B+. (this is just an example. We know nothing about the donor. Not even the blood type.) Crazy and Awesome isn't it?

Thank you so much for all of your Prayers and Positive Thoughts. Keep it Up!!!! I have become a true believer in the Power of Positive Thinking.