Day Zero; Welcome to my new hematopoietic stem cells!

Today's word is grateful.

I start with the undying gratefulness I send toward the as-now unknown-to-me 22 year old woman who selflessly donated her own bone marrow so that a stranger (me) would have a chance at continuing to live, to bike, to return to work, to hug her friends and to meet her eventual grandchildren. I sent out the most positive feelings I could, across the land, to wherever she lies. I learned that she chose to donate bone marrow instead of peripheral stem cells (donor's choice), and I don't know for a fact, but I assume that she was somewhat frightened and thought it would be easier to be asleep for her donation. What an amazing gift, especially in this uncertain time of COVID-19. I hope she is recovered and feels good about the magic she set into place. I am so unbelievably grateful, and I hope that I get to meet her some day and thank her in person.

I am grateful to my medical team who worked these last five months to get me into remission (a daunting task) and to keep me safe and healthy and to bring me to this transplant day, which I wasn't sure would even ever happen. I count everyone in this group, from Dr. Shah at Columbia St. Mary's, the team at Aurora St. Luke's, and my new team here at Froedtert.

My nurse, Stephanie, connecting everything before the transfusion.
I had a liter of saline in preparation and will continue to receive IV saline
for 24 hours post-transfusion

The donated bone marrow

The cells as they make their way into my PICC line and their new home!

And I am so grateful for my support network that continuously blows me away. In a pre-COVID-19 world, I would have had company in my hospital room for my transplant. But instead, I had close family and a few friends pop into ZOOM and keep me company on and off for over 3 hours as I was receiving the transplant and monitored. I had to be hooked up and vitals taken every 15 minutes so it would have been a long day to just sit alone. Y'all kept me wonderfully entertained! Here's a few screen shots:

Cara gathered requests and put together a Spotify playlist that started with Taylor Swift's "22." There may have been some dancing and my nurse said she got goosebumps.

My phone was full of texts and messages and Facebook comments all day long. My family did dinner with me via Zoom. The day truly flew by. And I think I will sleep well tonight. 

I am grateful and I promise to not take for granted any of this additional time I have been given.