Stem Cell Extraction: Day 12

Some disappointments today...shall I start with the good or the bad. The good.

The extraction started this morning as scheduled, and proceeded without complication. That’s probably it for the good news.

This morning’s blood work showed that Karl’s G-CFS number was 34. That means nothing to me, but nurse Regan (another good Bonavista Bay girl) said that they usually extract around 10% of that number, which would be 3.4. Karl needs 10. Again the numbers don’t mean anything to me other than I know they mean millions of cells, and the numbers suggested that we wouldn’t get enough stem cells today. Regan was correct, but we didn’t hit 10%. The actual number collected was 2.55, so only a quarter of what we need.

The other bad news concerns the line that was inserted in Karl’s chest. Instead of the infection around the line getting better with all the antibiotics, it is probably getting worse, and it is looking like the line will have to come out. We are all hoping it can stay in at least until tomorrow afternoon so that we can do another extraction in the morning. If you pray, please add this to your list.

So what next? Remember I said a few days ago that if Neupogen didn’t encourage the blood cell workers to produce enough stem cells, the Hemotologists had another weapon in their arsenal. That weapon is coming out. It is another subcutaneous shot, and its name is  Plexifor. It will give a super burst to the stem cell production, and hopefully will work well enough that we will collect enough tomorrow.

What about the line? The plan was for it to stay in until the transplant, or reinjection of the stem cells. If it has to come out the options will be to let the site heal and put in another line, or put in a pic line. I have no idea if that is spelled correctly. The pic line is a smaller line that will likely go in Karl’s arm. It is not optimal because it is smaller, but it can be used.

So that’s where we are. We wait out tonight, pray that the line stays in at least until the extraction is completed tomorrow, and that Plexifor does its job so we get the other 7.45 million stem cells that we need. All prayers, good vibes, and positive thoughts appreciated.

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