Stem cell donation done!

I spent a good part of Monday at the Stanford Apheresis Center donating stem cells. I went in at 730am to get my last set of filgrastim shots and then was hooked up to the "Leech-o-matic" machine. I had to close my eyes as they put needles into both my arms. The machine took blood from one arm, extracted the stem cells, and then put the blood back into my second arm. It took about 5 hours to get through 24 liters of my blood to get the amount that the patient needed.

A typical human body has about 5 liters of blood. So all of my blood was cycled through the machine five times. Freaky! I am lucky that I have huge veins in my arms, otherwise it would have taken a lot longer. It was hard enough sitting still for that long (with no bathroom breaks). Several friends from Team-In-Training came by to entertain me, making the time go by much faster. I brought a couple of DVDs with me to watch during the donation, but didn't get through even one because of the great company. Thanks a ton!

That evening, the stem cells were hand-carried by the Stanford Bone Marrow Center coordinator on a plane to the patient. The transplant is scheduled for Wednesday morning.

When it was done, I was very exhausted and my body was very achy from the shots and from sitting still for so long. But overall, everything went well, and I am quickly getting back to normal. The nursing staff at the Apheresis Center and the coordinators at the Bone Marrow Center were great throughout the process. Thanks!

The timing for this could not have been better, as I will soon be travelling for a while. Furthermore, I have been involved with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for about 3 years, training for marathons and fundraising for the society with their Team-In-Training program. Due to a foot injury (plantar fasciitis), I have been unable to fully train for over 9 months. However, this opportunity came along allowing me to do something for this worthy cause.

Join the National Bone Marrow Program registry!