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Today Mom had her stem cells harvested! They collected 1,209,000,000 stem cells, or 13 million per kg of body weight.
The day started early with some blood work and preparing to be moved to the transfusion unit of the hospital on second floor. Once we were downstairs, we had some breakfast and Mom's PICC line was set up.
A peripherally inserted central catheter was inserted on the right side of her neck. They had me leave the room for this part, and at first I didn't quite understand why, because I took precaution to make sure I didn't bring any potential bacteria in. Once I came back in I figured out why. There was a fair amount of blood on the pillow and her hospital gown, and I have to admit, I am slightly queasy at the slight of blood! So I am glad I wasn't present.
She said it wasn't painful, (as they administered local anesthetic first) but that it was uncomfortable. The funny thing is, my mom is poked at least twice daily with IV's or needles/injections, yet she has always had a relatively severe phobia of needles. I realized how far she was willing to go to treat her MS when I watched her take her first IV here like a champ, not even freaking out.
After the line was inserted, there was some vital checks and an x-ray to ensure that the line was in proper place.
Once everything was ensured, we met Dr. (Brig.) Anil Khetarpal, the director of the Blood Bank and Transfusion Medicine unit. He was a very humble and respectable Doctor. He made the procedure easy to understand, and we felt very confident in his capabilities. Naturally I'm a very curious person, so I question everything out of the sheer sake of knowing more about the world. I asked him how the apheresis machine worked, since there was a million tubes and different moving parts. He brought me over to the machine and happily explained from beginning to end how Mom's stem cells were collected. Basically there are two tubes connected to the PICC line. One takes blood out, while one puts the blood back in. The tube bringing the blood out draws it out using pumps, and then the blood is separated into different components using centrifugal force (spinning really fast). The needed components of the blood are collected into sterile bags, and the unused components are returned to the donor via the return line. It was fascinating. I really appreciated the opportunity to hear about the details of it all. His two assistant doctors stayed the entire duration of the harvest watching over the apheresis machine, explaining more of it to us.
One thing I love about Artemis is that their website has a directory of all of the doctors in their facility, their qualifications, and their title within the staff. Dr. Khetarpal's assistant physician was telling me about how he has so much experience in his field, and how he was actually a high ranking official in the Indian army at one point. Upon looking at his profile on the Artemis website, I was floored. He has over 29 years of experience in the practice and teaching of pathology in various military hospitals. Here is his profile: http://www.artemishospitals.com/about-artemis-hospital/for-patients/list-of-doctors/doctor-details?ID=14 It feels good knowing we are in very capable hands.
While I'm at it, here is the fabulous Dr. Gaurav Kharya's impressive profile as well:
http://www.artemishospitals.com/about-artemis-hospital/for-patients/list-of-doctors/doctor-details?ID=202
It only took a little bit over two hours for enough of Mom's stem cells to be collected. Typically they expect the procedure to take anywhere from 4 hours or more, but they were pleasantly surprised at how well the harvest went with Mom. She collected more than needed for transfusion, a whopping 13 million stem cells per kg of body weight.
Once harvesting was completed, they disconnected the machine and kept Mom for a few hours for monitoring. We had some lunch brought to us and then went back to our room.
Tomorrow Mom will start the cyclophosphamide (chemotherapy), and continue for 4 days when her immune system has been ablated. She will also be given ATG later in the week.
She feels really pleased with the results of her harvest, and in general feels strong still!
The day started early with some blood work and preparing to be moved to the transfusion unit of the hospital on second floor. Once we were downstairs, we had some breakfast and Mom's PICC line was set up.
A peripherally inserted central catheter was inserted on the right side of her neck. They had me leave the room for this part, and at first I didn't quite understand why, because I took precaution to make sure I didn't bring any potential bacteria in. Once I came back in I figured out why. There was a fair amount of blood on the pillow and her hospital gown, and I have to admit, I am slightly queasy at the slight of blood! So I am glad I wasn't present.
She said it wasn't painful, (as they administered local anesthetic first) but that it was uncomfortable. The funny thing is, my mom is poked at least twice daily with IV's or needles/injections, yet she has always had a relatively severe phobia of needles. I realized how far she was willing to go to treat her MS when I watched her take her first IV here like a champ, not even freaking out.
After the line was inserted, there was some vital checks and an x-ray to ensure that the line was in proper place.
Once everything was ensured, we met Dr. (Brig.) Anil Khetarpal, the director of the Blood Bank and Transfusion Medicine unit. He was a very humble and respectable Doctor. He made the procedure easy to understand, and we felt very confident in his capabilities. Naturally I'm a very curious person, so I question everything out of the sheer sake of knowing more about the world. I asked him how the apheresis machine worked, since there was a million tubes and different moving parts. He brought me over to the machine and happily explained from beginning to end how Mom's stem cells were collected. Basically there are two tubes connected to the PICC line. One takes blood out, while one puts the blood back in. The tube bringing the blood out draws it out using pumps, and then the blood is separated into different components using centrifugal force (spinning really fast). The needed components of the blood are collected into sterile bags, and the unused components are returned to the donor via the return line. It was fascinating. I really appreciated the opportunity to hear about the details of it all. His two assistant doctors stayed the entire duration of the harvest watching over the apheresis machine, explaining more of it to us.
One thing I love about Artemis is that their website has a directory of all of the doctors in their facility, their qualifications, and their title within the staff. Dr. Khetarpal's assistant physician was telling me about how he has so much experience in his field, and how he was actually a high ranking official in the Indian army at one point. Upon looking at his profile on the Artemis website, I was floored. He has over 29 years of experience in the practice and teaching of pathology in various military hospitals. Here is his profile: http://www.artemishospitals.com/about-artemis-hospital/for-patients/list-of-doctors/doctor-details?ID=14 It feels good knowing we are in very capable hands.
While I'm at it, here is the fabulous Dr. Gaurav Kharya's impressive profile as well:
http://www.artemishospitals.com/about-artemis-hospital/for-patients/list-of-doctors/doctor-details?ID=202
It only took a little bit over two hours for enough of Mom's stem cells to be collected. Typically they expect the procedure to take anywhere from 4 hours or more, but they were pleasantly surprised at how well the harvest went with Mom. She collected more than needed for transfusion, a whopping 13 million stem cells per kg of body weight.
Once harvesting was completed, they disconnected the machine and kept Mom for a few hours for monitoring. We had some lunch brought to us and then went back to our room.
Tomorrow Mom will start the cyclophosphamide (chemotherapy), and continue for 4 days when her immune system has been ablated. She will also be given ATG later in the week.
She feels really pleased with the results of her harvest, and in general feels strong still!
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| The final product! |
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| On our way down to the transfusion unit, bright and early at 5:30 AM. |
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| Mom waiting to meet the Doctors. |
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| Getting set up. |
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| This is Mom's PICC line all wrapped up. |
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| Nervous, but still smiling! |
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| The team, including Dr. Khetarpal and his assistant physicians. |
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| You can see the two lines that connect to Mom's PICC, one drawing blood out, one bringing it back in, |
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| This is the apheresis machine used to separate the components in the blood. Super cool to see, |
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| Some of the stem cells collected during the first cycle. |
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| The final result - what we came here for! |
This is awesome news!
ReplyDeletethinking of you and will share. the more of awareness the better for all!!
ReplyDeletexoxo