Day 0 - Ken gets stem cells

Here is a pictorial of Ken's stem cell collection. If you want to see a picture bigger, remember that you can click on the picture to make it larger.


This is Callee, the nurse that is going to give Ken his cells. The day started with Ken getting fluids for 2 hours in a drip. They gave him Tylenol, benedryl, and some other pre-drugs to help with the stem cell push. Mostly to help Ken relax.




This is the freezer that the cells are transported to the center in. The tub on the cart is the outside and the metal round freezer on the left sits inside of the big tub during transport. Ken's cells are inside the round freezer on the left.




This is the 'hot dog' cooker. This is where they thaw out the cells before giving them to Ken. They soak them in water to thaw.




This is where Christie is taking the cells out of the freezer. If you look closely, you can see the steam coming off the bottom. Notice her thick gloves. It's like handling dry ice.





This is Ken and his cells. You can really see the steam in this picture.





Ken's bag is cooking. Ken was a good giver of stem cells. Since he gave up his 15 million cells in just one draw a couple of weeks ago, he only has 1 bag to get now. The nurses said they had a guy this week that got 5 bags a day for 2 days. He wasn't a star giver like Ken.





Ken is ready. They have hooked up one of his 3 lines to a syringe. He is getting more instructions. They are thorough at telling us what is going to happen.




Here is comes. You can just see the blood with the stem cells starting down the tube to Ken. The nurse pushes it all in slowly. Takes only about 15 minutes. The candy on the pillow is there for Ken. He is sucking on another as she pushes. They say that the back of your throat gets a tickle during the push and sucking on candy helps eliminate the tickle. Ken felt it, but it wasn't bad with the candy. He likes butterscotch.





More pushing, slow but sure. The nurse talks to Ken about his family. She makes sure he is calm and at ease.




We are almost done. After this, she hooked up some saline into the bag to mix and get the last drops of cells out of the bag and into Ken. Interesting Transplant Process.




And now Ken sleeps. After the push, they give Ken another 2 hours of fluid drip. The fluids that they freeze the stem cells with aren't good for Ken's kidneys, so they give him lots of fluid to flush the kidneys. They give him lasix as well to help clear him out.


Ken feels great at this point. We are done at around 2:30 and are released. but I didn't tell you the funniest part of the day yet. Do I smell Cream Corn? During the push of the stem cells, the nurses warned me that I might smell garlic or cream corn. It is offensive to some, but Ken will not smell it. Only those around him. Boy was she right. He is stinky. Good thing I like cream corn. It was so strong, even our counselor mentioned it when she came into our room an hour after his push. I had to drive around with my window down when I was taking him home. We stopped in a Hallmark store on the way home. Ken was looking at Thanksgiving day cards. This poor unsuspecting lady came up beside him to look as well. I was down the isle and watched her. She coughed, sniffed, then coughed again. Then she moved away quickly. Poor Ken, he has no idea it is so strong. We stopped at another store to buy a candle for our hotel room. They said the smell could last as long as 48 hours. The smell comes from the cryogenics they use to freeze his cells. Luckily, Ken only smelled till the next morning. (I slept on our little couch). I feel sorry for the family of the guy that got 10 bags. Wow. The nurse told me the next day that some people put Vick's under their noses to mask the smell. Now she tells me.
All in all, it was a good birthday for Ken. He still felt great and was happy to be getting on with it. Love you all. Happy Birthday Ken. I love you most.