Stem Cell Transplant Day, day 0

Happy birthday to me! 🥳 Wednesday, April 10th, was stem cell transplant day. This day signifies the rebirth of my immune system after destroying it with all that chemo, a process that can take weeks to months.

The nurse gave me my premeds, 30 minutes later my stem cells came from the stem cell lab. The nurse closely monitored me as my stem cells were being transfused. Since it was an autologous transplant, where I was my own donor, risk for a transfusion reaction is a lot lower. However, in the storing process, the cells are mixed with a preservative which can cause a reaction. They also warned me that the preservative can have a funny smell that lasts up to two days after. That smell can vary. I was told I smelled like cream of corn 🥴.

I got to spend my special day with, David, my parents and little sister, Hadassah, who went all out on this occasion 🙂

As I wait for my stem cells to engraft, it’ll be a long road to recovery requiring a lot of patience and healing. Let the road to recovery begin!