Don't Catch a Cold

I recall one of the co-owners of the Keg telling me that he had a bone marrow transplant over 20 years ago. Back then the bone marrow transplant more referred to nowadays as a stem cell transplant or one kind of a stem cell transplant was in it's infancy. Back then you needed a sibling really or Mom or Dad's blood cell to perform the transplant. The science was not advanced as of that time to take on a blood cell from someone outside your immediate family. In fact this person was telling me that they took his own blood cells and repaired them then reintegrated them into his body. That is done a lot nowadays if it can be successfully done. It saves looking for a donor.

Well I was having a conversation with him on what it was like when he had it. He said he spent two months in the hospital then had to stay in a lodging close by the hospital to do bloodwork daily and so the doctors could monitor his progress for another three months.

I gasped hearing this as I wondered how we were going to manage if I had to stay that long in a lodging close to the hospital which was close to an hour from our place or would I be able to make the daily commute from home instead. One thing is for sure is everything had to be germ free.

He ended by saying, "just do not catch a cold or you will die."

So what happens during a bone marrow transplant is you are in the hospital a couple of weeks before this procedure takes place. You are in a room by yourself that is absolutely germ free. The idea for going in so early is that for first of all they will do a lot of tests to check you are good to go. Second of all they want to make sure you stay well for the transplant meaning have no sniffles or feeling under the weather. This is important.

Before the transplant what happens is you get chemotherapy to literally kill the blood cells in your body. In other words your whole blood gets a cleansing meaning that the Red Blood Cells and White Blood Cells are destroyed. Your body has nothing to fight germs that we run into everyday. When the ensuing bloodwork shows that the old cells are gone then they give you a blood transfusion.

In this blood transfusion are the donor's cells. Now from what I read during that summer from this book that was written by someone who went through this the recipient only receives a couple of cells to start with, not a whole bunch as you might expect.

Now if the donor is not a member of the family usually the new cells get into their new environment and begin wondering what the hell is this! The hope is they settle in nicely and begin to replicate. In some cases though they begin to act like they do not want to do this and fight. This can cause a lot of pain and anguish to the patient and concern for the doctors. From what I gathered getting through this can be super difficult. This is why they only give you a couple of cells to begin so they can see how they will react to their new environment. Quite simply if there is something wrong going into this with your other organs or these cells do not want to replicate and your body rejects them death can occur. Fortunately the success rate is now much higher than it used to be.

If all goes well though I heard it is in the hospital for six weeks or more depending on your body's recovery then as I mentioned before at home. Until they know that your blood cells and immune system are up and running staying in as close to a germ free environment is mandatory.

Now going into this my blood type is O+ but the new cells may be O- or type A for example. It doesn't matter because it is like you are a new born now. Like when we were kids we had to go get our vaccinations I would have to do that all over again.

From what I read and heard from the hematologist I could live on for another thirty years after undergoing a stem cell transplant. From the time you get the transplant it takes up to a year until you no longer need to see a doctor and get bloodwork done. You are all healed. Just regular check ups afterwards like everyone else who is healthy.

So knowing all this I got on the disability as quick as I could so our income would not drop like a stone. Also got on the free prescriptions through our provincial government.

We went on the overnight accommodation that I won with the wine contest and had a good time but my stomach was acting up and didn't feel right. At this juncture my body was changing a lot. Feet swelling and my low immunity I felt like I was always battling something and feeling fatigued.

It was a couple of weeks after I left my job that we were expecting family to stay with us from Iceland so in meantime it was regular trips to Juravinski Hospital in Hamilton while the hematologist in Kitchener I saw on the rare occasion. They were both in touch with one another regularly so it was no use seeing both. During this time every two weeks I was getting a blood transfusion and getting myself psyched up for this transplant.

Tomorrow we will start at the Fall of 2016 when things start approaching that time and a things start getting weird.