Donation Day (part deux)

What a day! When we last left off Danny had just begun the actual donation process. It took 6 hours and 28 minutes, but he finished! (In nearly record time, I might add!) I think the thought about donating is much more intimidating/scary than what actually happens. With the exception of the length of time and the immobility of both arms, this procedure actually is a lot like donating plasma or platelets.

There were a few minor things that you wouldn't think of when dealing with lack of "arms" -- feeding yourself, going to the bathroom, using a computer (the essentials, am I right?!?) are difficult, which is why I'm guessing they ask you to bring someone with you.

Just another day at the... office?

Danny finally got to meet his case worker Barb from the Be The Match organization. She was sooooo friendly! She took time out of her day to make the trip over to meet us and even drove me to Cupcake, a restaurant/bakery famous for its - you guessed it - cupcakes. She was just as friendly as Danny guessed she would be and it was great to put a face to a name. She was the key piece to making this whole process top notch and deserves mucho credit for what she does. (The one picture I forgot to take. Argh!)

We never did have much of a conversation with Dave -- our neighbor/roommate that was in the "joint" donating his cells for his own treatment, as his curtain remained closed for the duration of his appointment. He was actually scheduled to end ahead of Danny, but due to timing they actually finished their extractions at the exact same time. The doctor that was on duty came into the room shortly after Dave left and said that he thought what Danny was doing was nothing short of remarkable. Dave's fate could very well end up in the same place as Danny's recipient, so to know that he appreciated what Danny was doing meant a lot to both of us. (Yet another example of why donating is humbling and rewarding. Have we sold you on this process yet?)

After the hard work was over, they un-hooked Danny from the machines. His main complaint (and let me tell you, there weren't many!) was that his right arm (aka the needle/out arm) was starting to get sore. We asked them more questions like:

D&K :How many times did all of the blood in his body run through the machine?
Staff: Five.

D&K: What is the expiration date on the bag of goods?
Staff: They want to get it into the recipient within 24 hours (48 is still in the "good" window), but if the unforeseeable happened the cells could last up to five days.

D&K: How long will the recipient have to be in the hospital?
Staff: Approximately 30 days.

They also noted that (short of a miracle) this was basically the recipient's last chance at a shot at life. To know that we (and by "we", I mean Danny) did everything possible to save someone's life will have to be what we deal with for the next 6 months to 2 years. International countries have different rules than the U.S. and we may or may not ever hear from this guy or his family.

Tomorrow is his day "zero" -- meaning it is the first day at his second chance at life. We're wishing him the best of luck and hope that the courier's flight didn't get delayed.  (I kid, I kid...)  :)

Bonjour bag-o-stem cells!

Now if y'all don't mind, we're off to enjoy a drink and to pick up a lottery ticket... Cheers to this awesome experience!

To say he earned this beer would be an understatement :P

If we hear any updates or receive any new information we'll be sure to update. Thanks for reading! And go sign-up already! www.BeTheMatch.com

Donation Day!

Well, here we go! We had an early call time and arrived at Memorial Blood Center around 7:30 this morning. Danny had another round of questions, another injection (last one!), and then we had to wait 30min before he got hooked up to the machine. The staff has been awesome, which makes this whole process that much easier.

 

At around 8:30 he was good to go and got hooked up. They place a needle in one arm for the "out" port, and a catheter in the other arm for the "in". The needle/out arm needs to stay straight throughout the process, but he cath/in arm can move if need be.

The "Mystery Machine"

 

So far we are the only people in the room, but soon we will be joined by someone donating their own stem cells for their treatment. Danny and I have been a ball of questions, so hopefully this person isn't shy, as it'd be interesting to hear about his/her story.

 

I'll update more in a bit. For now, I'm going to kick back and watch some movies. I believe Danny's words were "This is way easier than a day at work." Ha!

 

The happy patient. (His smile may be the product of learning that the "catheter" he feared was not the catheter he thought it was going to be... :P)

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Yesterday Danny received his third filgrastim injection. Same drill -- questions, questions, injections, more questions. Thankfully his aches and pains have been pretty minor and he's had no lack of appetite, nausea, etc. He was able to work a full day (office job) following his injection. He did, however, sleep a lot last night. He pretty much slept straight from 8pm until 7am!

This morning he drove himself  to the "injection place" one last time to receive injection #4. We are headed to Minneapolis today to get settled in and ready for the big day tomorrow. 

This is where the Be The Match organization has went above and beyond. Minneapolis is approximately a five hour drive from our home. Rather than just offering to pay us mileage, they are flying the both of us down, not to mention they are covering all of our costs while away from home. They have definitely done everything they can to make this as easy on us as possible.

Adios GFK!

Last night when Drew (our 3yr old) saw us packing our bags for our three day, two night stay, he asked where we were going and why. (Because there is always a "why" when it comes to three year olds!) I explained that daddy had to go to the doctor in the "cities" and how he needed to take medicine in order to help somebody else that was sick. His eyes lit up and he said "Daddy's like a superhero?" I had a good laugh, but then realized he was on the right track. Leave it to a pre-schooler to put everything in perspective. :)

Day Two: Second Injection

Injection #2 came and went a bit faster than the first one. Danny didn't have any initial reactions to the drug, so after being kept at the hospital 15 minutes past his first injection we were allowed to go home. They do advise having an epi pen on hand should an allergic reaction occur. Thankfully (?) Danny is allergic to bees so we've got these suckers scattered throughout our home, cars, boat, etc. He's had no reaction whatsoever to the drug, so I think we're safe to keep all of those epi pens in storage.

Danny had a tough time sleeping last night. He woke up around 4am and ended up having to take his first dose of ibuprofen to get back to sleep. I'm not sure if being awake in the middle of the night had something to do with him napping a good chunk of the afternoon, was from the meds, or both. (Did I mention we have two young kids? This equals a lack of sleep for us grown-ups in the house!) He was able to fall back asleep and the ibuprofen seemed to take the edge off his bones aching.

The main areas of pain include his left hip, left shoulder blade, shins, and ankles. He also started to feel a little bit of chest pain (ribs/sternum), which they tell us is all totally normal.

His second injections this morning were again in the abdomen, and were again two 1.5cc injections. They asked the same round of questions again today with a few new ones sprinkled in. The nurse was different today and had the same reaction when she heard about Danny's donation story. To say I'm proud of him would be a complete understatement. :)

Day three is on tap tomorrow. It's a work day, so Danny will be heading to the hospital solo for injection #3 on his way to work. T-minus 3 days until donation day. I hope the recipient is looking forward to the positive as much as we are!

Day 1: First Injection

Well, here we go...

Danny received his first filgrastim injection today around 10:30 a.m. He needed three cc’s of the drug -- two 1.5cc shots to the stomach. This was the first donor case at the hospital, so it seemed to be new to everyone involved. On the way up the elevator the pharmacist was holding the meds talking to the nurse. He clearly didn't know the drugs were for Danny, as he told the nurse “I’m not sure what this is treating, but this seems like a lot.” Um… come again? Not exactly what you want to hear on day one of five of these injections!

Who knew a little vile could do so much?

They asked a few questions, took some blood (1 vile’s worth), took vitals, and eventually administered the meds. We had to stick around for 15 minutes after the injections to ensure he wasn't allergic. Once it was determined he was in the clear, we were sent on our way. He was told to lay low and not be left alone for the rest of the day, just in case he’d have a delayed reaction to the drug. At this point his main “complaint” would be that his stomach muscles hurt where the needles went in. Let’s hope that is the biggest issue we face today!

The most interesting part of day 1 (so far) would be the look on the face of the nurse when we got on the subject of donating. Off the bat she asked if we knew the recipient -- needless to say she was stunned when she found out Danny is donating for a complete stranger in another country. (It is pretty crazy!) I can only imagine that is not the last time we’ll be asked that asked that question. :)

The Beginning...

This is going to be my attempt at giving others a look into what a bone marrow donor goes through. I'm hoping those of you reading this blog found it by way of searching about the bone marrow donation process. If that was your intent, then my next hope is to give insight on what this process is all about. If not, well, um... try again? :P

Now, I must clarify. I am not actually the donor, my husband Danny is. We've got two boys ages 3 and 1. Our life is most definitely hectic, but we both feel that helping save someone -- even if they are a complete stranger -- is totally worth it.

I suppose I should start at the beginning... we joined the Be The Match registry approx 6 years go to attempt to help out a friend of ours. We weren't matches for him (thankfully he didn't end up needing a donation!) and even forgot that we were on the registry. Danny received a letter from the organization this past winter indicating that he may be a match and to contact them as soon as possible. (Sadly, we thought this may be an attempt to get us to renew our status on their registry so the first letter went unanswered. Oops!) After a few blood tests he found out that he was indeed a match for someone overseas. How crazy!

After meeting the requirements for the initial blood tests, Danny was flown to Minneapolis for a full-body physical. He had everything done from more blood work, a chest x-rays, the works. He received a clean bill of health and was giving the green light to donate.

While at the physical, he saw transplant recipients of all ages. They were all wearing masks, were clearly going through chemo of some sort, and were on the road to recovery. He had the opportunity to also visit the donation location. They showed him where he'd be the day we arrive and gave him somewhat of an idea what to expect. (At this particular location they have a library of DVDs to select from to help pass the time the day of the donation. Definitely a bonus!)

We did as much as we could to learn more about what the donation process includes. He will be donating via PBSC donation, which sounds like it's similar to donating plasma. (There is quite a bit more to it of course, but the same idea.) He will be injected with a drug called filgrastim for five days and on the fifth day he will do the donation. Throughout our Google searches we found a few blogs that others had done regarding donating, what to expect, etc. Hence the reason for our blog. Hopefully we can give insight to others looking to start this process and maybe even get more people to get on the registry! (It's a long shot, but you never know!)

This blog will follow Danny's journey through his donation process. I hope it is informative and helpful! :)

PS - If you're not on the registry yet, what are you waiting for? Go to their website www.bethematch.org and request a cheek swab kit. (Free!) You never know when you might have the opportunity to save a life!