Re-Birthday!
5/26/2022
Over the last week, Ian has been in the hospital getting “myeloablative conditioning” to prepare his body for the stem cell transplant. This high intensity chemo ablates his bone marrow so the donor stem cells move into a clean house. For five days, his regimen of Thiotepa, Fludarabine and Busulphan (TBF) was administered by IV over a few hours each evening. His regimen also included about 10 different meds, a spirometer, inhaler, mouthwash, body wipes, showering 2x/day, frequent vitals and midnight blood draws. One night, they had to draw his blood every hour throughout the night in order to dial in a dosage. It’s quite an orchestration of events. Through it all, Ian fared very well. In the beginning, he had a little fatigue and nausea, but quickly bounced back to normal. He walked the prescribed mile every day, which is 22 laps around his floor (tethered to a pole). He is not allowed to leave his unit, but I’ve been there to keep him company the better part of everyday. We pass the time by talking, reading, playing Yahtzee, and watching TV (live music/ultimate/shows). I also work, while he naps. Add in all of the nurse checks and three meals and the time passes quickly.
After six months of trials and tribulations (kicking Leukemia’s ass!), transplant day was finally here! “Day 0” (in the count-up to recovery) would be May 26, 2022. The day started off a little turbulent. The building engineers were testing the air filters, so from 8am to 12pm, a loud industrial fan was running in Ian’s room. During that time, he was not allowed take his mask off and so he couldn’t partake in the coffee and donuts I brought. As luck would have it, his mini-fridge also decided to leak water all of over the floor that morning. Needless to say, tensions were running high, but all was calm in time for the transplant.
By 3pm, Ian was prepped with his pre-procedure meds and we saw a parade of nurses in the hall. They were gathered around a vessel that held the stem cells, which was steaming from the dry ice. The donor cells were frozen (which is very common), since his transplant had been delayed. The small bag of pink cells was thawed in warm water, then the contents were transferred into three syringes. Each syringe was squeezed into Ian’s port, one by one, taking only about 5 minutes each (with a short break in between). Ian was quiet and said that he felt “indescribably weird and hot.” I could tell that he was feeling “off” and his vitals were a little wacky, but he was undoubtedly stable (some folks get severe allergic reactions). I think he was mostly bothered by me and the three nurses singing a special “Happy Re-Birthday” song to him! (It’s a thing – I didn’t make it up!) We tried to make it a festive occasion, complete with a disco ball, fuzzy spirit animals, a giant poster and lively music. Ian got a new shot at life today, so it was truly worth celebrating!
