Collection Begins

Today was an extremely long day!! I went to the hospital at 7am and got home at 6pm. After having labs done we waited about 2 hours for the results. During this time we wandered around the hospital and paced the floors. My joints and hips ached from the medications. I decided this whole ordeal felt like going into labor. I had labor pains and was waiting to deliver my own baby stem cells! The "magic numbers" came back and I was able to begin collection. They hooked me up to an apheresis machine with tubes going everywhere. The blood was taken out. The stem cells separated, then the blood put back in. Modern technology is amazing! It was not painful-just uncomfortable to have to sit there all day!! Hopefully this will only take a few days. I am waiting to hear back from the hospital with the actual count. I will keep you posted.