Harvest Complete

John spent about nine hours today getting his stem cells harvested. They had a very nice recliner chair for him to sit in and television to watch. The two technicians were wonderful and very amusing and helped pass the time. They stayed over time to make sure that we got enough cells to do two transplants. They were able to get the minimal amounts for these transplants but not the maximum. What that means is that he will be neutropenic for two to three days longer after the transplant than he would be if he had been able to have the maximum amount of stem cells harvested. We are happy to have reached this goal. If they had not been able to achieve this they would have had to prime him again and do another harvest in January. He would not have had to do chemo for that. Dr. V. could always decide that he wants to do this still. We will see.

Angela helped Dr. V. remove the central line out of Johns jugular vein. (She assisted) She enjoyed doing this. I was quite happy to leave and not watch that. She is very tough. I went to Safeway and got all the prescriptions filled and did some grocery shopping so we don't have to do that tomorrow. John gets to come home tomorrow! Yeah! Whew! That is so good to have behind us. Everybody breath out now.

Pray that John will really get built up for the transplant and that he will go into that healthy and strong. Pray that his body can take care of anything infections. Pray that his jaw would be completely healed and would not cause anymore problems. Pray that he would be able to have the pamidronate to strengthen his bones without any complications. Thank God for the harvest of his stem cells and for taking us this far and for being patient with me when I become afraid.