HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Michelle's New Dawn Begins

4:oo pm today it happened.  Michelle received the ultimate gift from her brother Gerald...the magical gold as we like to call it.  It was a pretty amazing event to view the tiny little bag of stem cells slowly drip through the IV line over the course of an hour and know that it was saving Michelle's life.  The room was packed with those that could be there for the celebration: Caroline (Michelle's mom), Steve, Rondi, Chelsie and Blair, myself, Karina, Kensington, Karadie, Cindy and the hero of the day; Gerald.

A minimum of 5 million stem cells must be transplanted to be effective, but no more than 10 million to be transplanted at one time.  Over 10 million can actually be counter-productive.  Lucky for both Gerald and Michelle, 17 million stem cells were collected from Gerald on Tuesday and 10 million were transplanted to Shelly today.  The remaining 7 million were frozen for the "just in case" clause.  I really expected the bag to look like blood, dark red.  The magical gold looked more like v8 juice.  It took just over an hour for Michelle to receive all 10 million stem cells.  The only side effect, a slight headache, which really could have been from the tears more than the transplant.

The BMT staff came in singing Happy Birthday with all of us joining in, presenting Shelly with a birthday card and a new fleece blanket wrapped like a birthday cake.  What a celebration it was!

Several doctors came in to check on her during the transplant.  A little more explanation helped us understand the entire process.  Michelle received 2 different types of chemo because different chemos kill the different cells of the body.  The last chemo, the cytoxan kills the bone marrow completely.  It was described like a hit and run car accident.  It did the damage, coming in hitting every cell then slowly killing them over the following 5 to 10 days.  As those cells slowly die off, the new stem cells that were transplanted today wiggle their way through Shelly's body finding their way into her bone marrow and then they do their job, rebuilding.  I don't have a medical degree, so I've explained this the best that I remember it or rather - understood it.  Forgive me if I made some errors in my explanation. 

Aside from the transplant today, it wasn't Shelly's worst day, but it wasn't her best day either.  Her energy has been completely zapped from her body.  The nausea is a little more under control.  She ate a little bit of breakfast keeping it down until 12:30.  Last I heard, she hasn't thrown up anymore today.  That makes it a good day.  As the stem cells graph her energy should slowly start to return. 

Thanks again for all the love, support, and prayers.