Transplant Day 0

This picture is actually of Day -2Mom's second day of chemo. Thursday Day -1 was Mom's rest day. She had a good day on Thursday with the exception of tweaking her wrist. She was painting and put the items to dry in her window and hurt herself. They actually think it had something to do with the physical therapy exercises they have her do daily; one probably was done wrong and the painting just hurt it a little. Her friend Kathy came to visit; and then Colleen and Brad visited in the evening. They took some cute pictures with Lottie posted on their blog. Pat and Katie came up too...



Day 0 arrived and Mom was admitedly nervous. We soon found there was no reason for this but I understand her fear of the unknown. Raj from the UofU brought her stem cells and a little ice cream in a portable subzero freezer... okay not really the later, but it would have been cool if he did.


This is Raj taking the actual stem cells out of his portable freezer. You will see on Mom a box of Lemonheads and at her side Raj brought her a box of candy. The transplant smells to everyone who is in the room, but Mom could taste it. So they give her something to suck on to combat this.

Mom did really well during the transplant and even managed to smile for the camera. The cells they put back are cold, so she got chilled. That is until they went in faster and that caused her to get flushed until they slowed it down.

On the left is Gayle her nurse hanging another bag of cells and Raj on the right is verifying she is getting the right cells.

The transplant left Mom a little tired and she really had no energy. She did manage to get up for a walk with me later in the afternoon but that was about it. Colleen brought in Lottie long enough for a kiss and Colleen stayed with Mom in the evening while I took Lottie home with me. We were not sure if the chemicals that were mixed with the cells were safe for her.

Today Mom claims to have more energy than yesterday but her breakfast made her a little sick to her stomach. This is normal a few days after chemo. Colleen and Lottie visited this morning; and Barry and Debbie are up there now with Ainsleigh. Today Mom's blood sugar is back to normal so no more insulin, which she loves!

I wish I could effectively tell you all what the smell of the transplant is like. It smells like sweet creamed corn that has been left out for a few days. Mom said it tasted like creamed corn too which would be torture to me as I dislike creamed corn greatly. Dad and I got used to the smell and by the time Colleen got up there at 7 it was not so strong.

This week has gone better than we could have imagined and we pray for the best for next week. Next week her white cell counts are going to be low so she will not be able to fight infection were she to be exposed to it. Also the rest of her hair should fall out and she has a possibility of mouth and throat sores. But since this week went so well, again we are praying for the best!

By the way MOM since no one on the floor did it yesterday allow me:

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday dear Mom

Happy Birthday to you!