At 2:36 pm Brad began receiving his new stem cells and by 3:47 pm the transplant was complete.
I feel like we both had this idea of what the bag of cells might look like - they looked nothing like we imagined. The bag was small and looked like tomato juice. He had 4 small bags of stem cells in about 15 minute intervals.
They gave him an IV push of Benadryl before they started the transplant. He was groggy through the entire thing and then was ultimately asleep before the transplant was finished.
When they started the IV and I saw the cells start to flow towards Brad, my chest got tight. I got this lump in my throat and felt a bout of anxiousness.I prayed, the feeling eased, but felt really heavy in the beginning. Brad seemed calm, really focused and then sleepy.
No surprise, he handled everything well. His temperature has steadied and held at 98.2. They take his vitals every hour and continue to monitor him closely.
Now - we wait and continue to pray that his body engrafts quickly, sickness stays away and he remains strong.
All the love,
Natalie