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We made it!!!! As they came into Travis' room with the small bag of marrow, we couldn't believe it - first that the bag was so small -- looked like about a cup or so (they remove almost all the T-Cells here prior to transplantation to reduce probability of Graft Versus Host Disease, and that takes out a lot of the volume that the donor gave). Also, we were so used to seeing bags of blood from transfusions in the past, and the marrow looked very thin (not as viscous), and quite pinkish in comparison. (Marrow does get transplanted by an intravenous drip though, much like a blood transfusion - painless - YAY -- and in fact, often quite anti-climactic for the recipient. It's the before and after that's the hard part.)
We were deeply moved when the nurse said "that's not all your donor sent" and she handed Travis a gift and a lovely, touching card. What a wonderful, meaningful gesture. Travis' new marrow was hooked up to begin the "drip" infusion at 6:30 p.m. Joe and I were ready for a peaceful, magical experience, as we were to watch the life-giving liquid go into Travis' body. In reality, the scene was a little different.
As we insisted that Travis discontinue the game that he was playing when they came in with the marrow, Travis made it clear that he didn't want a big spiritual production out of the procedure. So Joe and I said a quick prayer, and then immediately proceeded to honor Travis' wish during the transplant - to play "Go Fish." This was total dissonance for me-but it was HIS celebration! Limping through the game, I heard the nurse say, "here comes the marrow" only to follow shortly with "hmmm it's not dripping fast enough". End of card game.
Real time update here - Midnight - Travis just woke up (I'm typing this on HIS laptop in the hospital room) and looked around. I went to his bed and said "Honey, there's fresh new marrow in your body" and he said, "Yes, I know." And then he smiled at me and sang "Hi Ho, Hi Ho, I'm excited I have marrow!" and then flopped back onto his bed and fell back asleep! Had to record that one right after it happened! (-:
Anyway, without going into every detail, the transplant, which was to take about an hour, lasted FOUR HOURS!!! Travis got quite bored (and likely quite nervous) after awhile and slept through the last 2 * hours of the action. After much nurse and doctor consultation, it was determined that the 4 drips per 15 seconds would still be fine - that the marrow would still be healthy. Can you IMAGINE how slow that is to watch? I was pretty much a wreck; Joe was calm but frustrated. The poor nurse - we were breathing down her neck to make sure everything was all right. Believe it or not, as they were switching lumens to try to get a faster flow, a few drops of the marrow actually splashed out of the tube and got Travis' shirt. I looked at Joe in horror. A drop or two on landed his cheek too! We couldn't believe it. But the nurse was acting fast to try to get things moving. Anyway, it was only a few drops, and in fact, things did continue flowing, slowly but surely, after that. We heaved a huge sigh of relief 4 hours and 5 minutes later, as the final drops of marrow went into Travis' central line tube and Travis was still sleeping comfortably with stable vital signs. So much for the tranquil flowing of the marrow. But truly, the important thing is that the marrow is now well into his body, finding the areas in which to begin engrafting and creating new, healthy (non-Leukemic) cells. Go, Marrow, Go!!!
Another note, We are in awe that, going into this process, Travis' blood was one type, and now, in the future, it will change to that of the donor's! Isn't that amazing? Because the marrow manufactures the blood cells Makes sense, I guess Strange that his type will now be different!
Other Spencer stories - I understand he saw a bald man walking, and he whispered to my mother "That man has Leukevia". He also insisted to my compulsive-cleaning friend as he sat on her sparkling clean white carpet - "My brother Travis can't sit on this dirty carpet, you know." We know we will have to keep educating both boys about cancer (and that not every bald person has it!!) and how we'll be living life differently to avoid germs for quite some time. He is trying, in his own way, to process all this, and show his love for his brother.
Speaking of hair, Travis still has a pretty good head of it. Thinner, but definitely much hair. We understand that it's only going to be there for another 4 days or so. And it will grow back!!! Part of the healing process with new, healthy engraftment and cell production.
The phrase "How Was Your Day, Baby?" has brought on entirely new meaning to us now! Today was a doozy, to be sure. We have now participated in a marrowthon. Our first, and hopefully last. Now we wait and continue to pray and think positive and keep Travis as comfortable as possible as effects of the radiation, chemo and foreign marrow try to kick in. And we visualize engraftment (hopefully by Day +14).
More to come
Thanks for your prayers today. We felt cocooned in them.
Love,
Melanie, Joe, Travis and Spencer