I kind of like that Three Things Thursday title so I am going to try to post every week.
1. Back to normal - True to what I was told, the filgrastim shots made me feel like I had the flu & like I had been hit by a Mack truck :-( Needless to say I slept more in four days than I had in the last 3 weeks together LOL. My sternum & lower back were painful after the second day. Those are the two places in your body that make the most marrow. Strange feeling to have pain in your chest where you can't breathe & you can feel your heart beating in your bones. However after the procedure I was fully back to normal by 1 1/2 days.
2. How was the procedure & would I do it again? In a word YES I would do it again in a heartbeat. The procedure itself was relatively easy. The hardest part (besides needles) is laying still for 3-4 hours because you get stiff. They have to scratch your itches too LOL because you can't bend your arms. It was AMAZING to watch how they start the procedure, coordinate the courier, monitor the machine, etc. Do you know how large a bag of blood is? The amount of cells collected over a 4 hour period was 1/4 a bag - literally that's it. They pack it immediately & send it on its way. Funny story - the program pays for your mileage & for your meal the day of the procedure but the coordinator failed to tell me that. So I'm sure you can guess why I fell out laughing when she called & asked me to scan & email her my lunch receipt. My friend, Susan, had to get home to meet a child she tutors 3 days a week so we went through a drive-through on the way home. Since I can't have soy, gluten, dairy, eggs & other things, I had one taco and a Dr Pepper. I told Mattie, the coordinator, her that I wasn't worried about my $3 meal so she told me to go have dinner with my family & then send her the receipt.
3. What now? Since the PBSC procedure is under study (as it has been for a few years) by the FDA, I will be contacted over the next year to see how I am doing. Guess that makes me a lab rat:-) On a more hopeful note, the program will update me at 30-days, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months on how my donor recipent is doing. Unless she has problems and does not survive, then after one year we can exchange information and talk or meet. I truly look forward hopefully to February or March of 2012. February 2011 is a new beginning for her and me. I will never be the same - it's been a wonderful journey that has changed me for life. I plan to increase my running & begin running for leukemia, cancer, melanoma, etc. I also want to help with marrow drives because so few people know about the program. My recipient - she now has my blood type & she now has a part of me helping her to overcome leukemia so that she can see her children grow up and see her future grandchildren. I pray that we both forever remember how we emotionally feel at this point in our lives and that we always endeavor to remind people to be thankful, be hopeful, be positive and be the influence that God intends you to be.
