Up to now, I've been talking about my stem cell transplant. I've probably told you that the stem cells will be collected from me vs. from a donor (I could go back to some old blog postings and confirm, but I'm too lazy). They will be collected directly from me and that process is known as an autologous transplant - when a person receives their own stem cells. The others are known as allogenic - when a person receives stem cells from another person and syngeneic - when a person receives stem cells from an identical twin sibling.
My transplant is not a bone marrow transplant. They will not collect the stem cells from my bone marrow, but rather from my blood.
Like the other transplant options, an autologous transplant requires the discipline of diet restrictions, cleanliness and keeping a distance from others who may be ill or have been exposed to illness. However, the length of time to "reboot" after the autologous transplant is shortened (100 days vs. a year for an allogenic transplant).
I won't post any of the hospital visit rules quite yet. I will do that a few days before I am admitted, so it will be easily accessible. I will be able to set up a system of letting you know whether it is a good day to come visit in the hospital or not. There may be some days when I'm not quite the handsome and entertaining person you consider me to be.
This too, shall pass.
1 comment:
First! Wait, does rebooting mean you have to turn off your immune system and then turn it back on? Or can you just log out and then log back in? I'm confused.
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