Today is the final day for Bill to harvest his stem cells. His transplant doctor, Dr. Mehta decided to run an extra 5 liters through the harvesting machine in hopes of getting some extra cells on this last day. Today's estimate based on a formula of his white blood and the cd34 marker is somewhere between 1.7 and 3.75 million. I am hoping with the extra 5 liters we will be at that upper end or maybe even more!!! His platelets have been rebounding each night which has been wonderful that he hasn't needed any transfusions all week. They will check them one more time and make sure they are high enough before removing the temporary catheter that was placed in his neck for the harvesting process. I am suspecting he will need a transfusion first by the looks of the bleeding from the skin tear on his neck. The good news is platelets can be transfused at a rapid pace to it will only add maybe an hour on to the day!
It has been a long week and I know Bill is ready to be home and sleep in his own bed. We have enjoyed some nice time together in the big city with some walking down Michigan Avenue and a very nice Italian lunch yesterday. When this is all said and done we will return for a weekend of pure enjoyment without the medical interruptions! Will post later on the FINAL stem cell count collection!
As always, thank you for your continued support and prayers!
Kay
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