Dr. W. says they'll be ready to begin harvesting stem cells next week. The process is described in detail in the document included in one of the earlier posts, but in short the patient's blood circulates through a machine which separates out the cells they need to keep then returns the remaining cells to the patient. If you've ever done apheresis platelet donations at your local blood bank, the process is similar. The process takes 3-4 hours and will be repeated 1-4 times until there are enough cells for the transplant.
Donate Blood
And speaking of blood donations, Vicki has received literally dozens of units of donated whole blood and platelets. Without the support of these transfusions the chemotherapy she receives would weaken her to the point that it would be very difficult to survive. Blood products are always in extremely short supply and there have been times when it was not certain whether Vicki would receive what she needed. She does not need designated donations from any of us, but your donations can help improve the overall supply across the nation and help support others in your community whose lives depend on it.
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