The Transplant

On April 12, 2000, on his son, Aaron's 9th Birthday, at 9:30 p.m., Greg received the gift of life from his brother, Tom.  Tom very generously underwent a bone marrow harvest wherein the doctors removed a half gallon of bone marrow to donate to his brother in an attempt to save his life.  While the actual harvest yielded a half-gallon of fluid, the amount that Greg received was quite small.  That is because during the harvest, there is a lot of other fluid, including blood, that is removed at the time.  The bone marrow taken from Tom was separated and washed, and washed, and washed, before it was given to Greg.  While the marrow harvested from Tom was red (due to the blood), the bag of cells that Greg received was a white, milky color.  That is because everything but the stem cells themselves were removed from Tommy's bone marrow prior to Greg receiving them.  

In this photo, Greg is simply waiting for Tommy's marrow to arrive.  Everything is set and ready to go, it's just a matter of time.  

The IV bag of cells that Greg received, contained 6 BILLION cells!  The process for the recipient is not, contrary to popular belief, a surgical procedure.  The donee simply receives the cells as another IV drip through the Hickman line.  Tommy's cells were given to Greg in less than 1/2 an hour!  I was able to be with Greg the entire time, as was our best buddy, Bill.  Greg's nurse, Julie, was with us the entire time to monitor Greg for any adverse reaction.  The only reaction Greg had to Tommy's cells was a slight feeling of tightness in his chest, and a decrease in his blood oxygen level.  This was corrected by simply putting him on oxygen.  Nurse Julie told us that this is a fairly common reaction.  

In this photo, the milky white bag (in the center of the photo) to the right of the larger saline bag are Tommy's stem cells.  Believe it or not, but this little bag holds 6 BILLION cells!  After all the chemo, and all the radiation, it all amounts to simply a very small IV bag that was given to Greg is less than half an hour!  Even having gone through this process, it is still totally amazing!  It is amazing that Tom was a 10/10 match for Greg, it is amazing that Tom did this for Greg, it is amazing that this treatment was available to Greg, and it is amazing that this little bag of cells holds what is necessary for Greg's body to being its life anew without all those horrible little cancer cells that we never wanted, nor asked for in the first place!!  We are truly grateful, first of all, to Tom, but also to the doctors and nurses and all the staff behind the scenes, from the cleaning people to the BMT coordinator (Joan), to Tom's coordinator (Dr. Michael Paul) to the insurance coordinators, and everyone else who has had a hand in this miracle at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, for their knowledge and expertise to be able to perform such a complicated procedure!  From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for everything you have done for us.  

In this photo, Nurse Julie is checking on Tommy's/Greg's cells.  Julie is the nurse that watched over Greg during the transplant procedure.  She stayed with us the entire time and kept a very close watch on Greg.  She didn't even mind answering all our questions during the transplant!   Thank you, Julie, for everything you have done!  You have been wonderful to Greg, and wonderful to all of us!  It is people like you who help to make this procedure bearable!  

Greg is watching those 6 billion cells as they run into his catheter.  Go cells, Go!  

Here's an up close view of the bag of Tommy's cells.  We were even allowed to keep the bag!  I wanted to ask Nurse Julie, but I just figured that we would not be able to.  Once it was done, she asked me if we wanted to keep the bag!  I was so surprised!  YES, I want to keep it!!!!  I carry that little IV bag in my totebag every day, and whip it out at every opportunity to show people!  I know it sounds weird, but this way, when someone asks, I can just SHOW them!  Hey, no one ever accused me of being normal, OK!  I can't help it.  Maybe some day, I'll be ready to let go, but not now, and not in the near future!  This little bag has given my husband, and the father of my children a new chance at life, a life he would not have otherwise had.  I can't help but be sentimental over it.