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Apheresis Day #1

Apheresis Day #1

Upon arrival Leila checked into her suite for the day


They took 8 vials of blood (good thing she’s got great veins), gave her the growth factor shot, then she was whisked off to radiology for placement of the permanent catheter. Not sure why they call it that since it’s only there temporarily (probably 6 weeks).  



Then back up to her room for the day. Once she got hooked up to the apheresis machine, Leila was able to rest and relax. 

Since she couldn’t eat anything this morning, because of the anesthesia to place the port, so we packed lots of good food for her to munch on today. 



Blood test results indicated her numbers looked great for a very successful harvest of the stem cells. The key calculation number they were looking for was a minimum of 20, Leila scored 29. Yeah!!  You go girl!!

The goal is to get 6 million stem cells in the next two days. Enough for 2 transplants. Fingers crossed and good energy flowing . . .

This machine is pretty cool!  Highly intelligent.  Even calibrates the flow if the balance gets out of whack.  Of course the nurse is constantly keeping an eye on it as well to make sure things flow a pretty shade of cloudy pinkish red.



Success!! They got 2.52 million stem cells today!!!  Great start, Leila!!  

More growth factor tonight to boost production for tomorrow. Blood levels at the end of the day all look good, except she was prescribed ice cream for dinner. 😔

Keep the prayers, healing energy and mojo coming so those viable stem cells keep flowing!


Comments

  1. Yay! Keep on trucking, Leila...lots of healing love.

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  2. Way to go Leila!!! 💪💪💪. Sending lots of “HON POWER” to you, sweetness. Love you both ❤️❤️❤️

    ReplyDelete
  3. Woo hoo!! Sounds like a great first day! Lots of love and prayers for today to go as well!

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  4. Great news!! We’ll keep the prayers flowin’ so you can keep the blood flowin’. I am so grateful for this blog so we can accompany you on this journey with you, Leila and Kristen. ♥️♥️

    ReplyDelete
  5. “Sending all our be well juju! Such great news! ❤️

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  6. Go, Leila!! Thank you so much for sharing the journey so openly, thoroughly, and vulnerably through this blog. You know my heart is with you, and your sharing makes the connection more "current", so I can pour all my love and prayers into the moments more clearly. Love you both more than you know! 💖

    ReplyDelete

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