Transplant Day -5

I was severely fatigued 2-3 days after the stem cell harvest on 10 Feb, but I started feeling much better after day 5 back in Hawaii. My hair began falling out on 16 Feb (17 days after mobilization chemo) and I decided to shave bald before departing Hawaii, so I wouldn't have to deal with the hair in the hospital.

I returned to Chicago on 21 Feb and reported to Northwestern on 22 Feb to have a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) line inserted. My nurses will use the PICC line to administer my chemotherapy, misc meds, fluids and draw blood without having to stick me multiple times with a needle. The PICC line insertion was pretty painless and only took about 30 minutes once an operating room became available. More details on a PICC line can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripherally_inserted_central_catheter.

I was admitted to the 15th floor of the Prentice Women's Hospital at 0730am today. The 15th and 16th floors of the Prentice building are designed with special filtration systems to lower the risk of infection in immunosuppressed patients. Patients on these floors receive chemotherapy as part of an auto-immune stem cell transplant or to treat blood cancers.

Once my labs come back and my pre-chemotherapy meds are administered, I'll receive 4 grams of cyclophosphamide chemo, followed by anti-thymocyte immune globulin (a.k.a. Rabbit ATG) to further aid in the destruction of my immune system T-cells. This process will be repeated over the next 4 days to wipe out my immune system and then my harvested stem cells will be reinfused into me on 28 Feb. After stem cell reinfusion, the immune system rebuilding and recovery process begins.

Additional info regarding rabbit ATG and cyclophosphamide can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-thymocyte_globulin and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclophosphamide, respectively.