All Dressed Up.....

.... and no stem cells to harvest. Back from MCV and taking things easy for the rest of the day per the instructions given to me by the folks that inserted the port. I now have another catheter in me and I now know why they need it in addition to the port I already have. As my blood is extracted, it travels through a tube that goes into the apheresis machine to harvest the stem cells. Once they are harvested, the blood (minus the stem cells) is returned to my body via a separate tube. Hence, the need for a catheter with two lines.

The insertion of the catheter went well and everyone was very professional and very good natured. I'm getting more at peace with the overall size of MCV, and there are some great folks working there doing some great things for patients.

Tomorrow, I go back for more blood work and a possible start to the stem cell collection process. Could be a short day. Could be a long day.

A friend asked me about my anxiety level. I told them it's up there, but I see anxiety as a way to process things mentally and get yourself where you need to be mentally. Anxiety is the coach looking at the offense and defense and deciding what play to run.

To help in the process, some cool things happened over the weekend that I took as signs to help process the anxiety.
1) I met a very nice couple in church yesterday that work at MCV. The wife works in the clinic where I will be having my stem cells collected.
2) During communion at church yesterday, the pianist started playing "Simple Gifts."
3) While I was having blood work today, one of the Nurse Practitioners walked in the room to weigh himself. I had performed in a show with him last year and it was the first time I had seen him since the show closed. It was great to see him again.
4) One of the nurses from Virginia Cancer Institute called me while I was coming home from the hospital to check on me and see how I was doing.

Those were my "burning bushes."