It’s Sunday 21st August, and I’m a slightly anxious about tomorrow.
Slightly anxious because I must be in hospital in London by 8:30am to have my stem cells collected.
At 4 this morning I knew that the (G-CSF) injections I’ve been giving myself we’re working (hooray!)
I knew because I had a quite intense pulsating pain in my pelvis.
I’d been warned about this. The G-CSF injection’s purpose is to cause an increased production of stem cells.
They’re produced inside bones – in the bone marrow. Bones aren’t soft and bendy, so pressure increases, and that results in pain.
That’s what I feel today.
But I’m thrilled that the jabs have worked.
I started pain killers at 4:30 this morning.
Today is definitely about getting ready for tomorrow. That sounds a bit philosophical, doesn’t it – but I mean all of the practical stuff.
An ambulance vehicle, big or small, will arrive tomorrow morning, between 6 and 6:45 to collect me.
At hospital I’ll be transported to the Apheresis unit (stem cell harvesting centre), by wheelchair :-).
Then I’ll have blood taken from one arm, that’s passed to a centrifuge machine where stem cells will be extracted, and the blood is then put back in my other arm.
That’ll go on for 4 hours or more.
They’ll collect enough stem cells for transplant, HOPEFULLY !!! … if they haven’t been able to do that then, I’ll have to come back again on Tuesday 🫤.
More news tomorrow …