Stem Cell Collection Completed

Happy to report that I completed stem harvesting. On Thursday, I had a Quinton catheter installed.

On Friday and Saturday, I was connected to a Apheresis machine (see the picture) that pumps blood through one of the connection in the catheter, separates stem cells and brings the rest of the blood back through the second connection in the catheter. After ~ 2 hours, I collected my bag of stem cells with a repeat procedure in Saturday. Now I am looking forward to having the Quinton removed and having a couple of days of no catheter at all (I hope). I am seeing my doctor tomorrow. I should know after, when I start the second induction – hopefully I can get a little break.
Meanwhile, we had a major ice and snow storm here over the weekend. It was beautiful but made for a scary driving condition. A picture I took as we were driving to the hospital yesterday.