Day +1: Into the Plus Days & Starting the Waiting Game

Morning smiles make my day!

The morning was pretty routine. The only thing different was we were waiting on word if they would continue on with the plan to include Kal in a study dealing with an infusion of stem cells coming from a placenta. The placental cells were actually supposed to arrive last night and given 4 hours after his cord blood stem cell transplant, but the plane flying it in had technical issues, thus cancelling the flight. The doctors were concerned that waiting until the next day to administer the placental stem cell infusion would affect his eligibility to be in this study. But, around 1 p.m., the nurse was informed the placental cells had arrived and were thawing in the stem cell lab, in preparation for transfusion.

A little back explanation as to what this study is all about: This company has a hypothesis that for those receiving umbilical cord stem cell transplants, if they receive this transfusion of additional stem cells from the placenta, then those cells (from both the umbilical cord and placenta) would work together and help the body be stronger, build good cells faster, and help keep down the affects of graft vs. host disease. They have not done it on many patients so far, as it is a fairly new study. On the other hand, they have not seen any adverse affects of performing this extra procedure. To me, it's like, "Duh, and umbilical cord and a placenta are used to working with each other. That totally makes sense! Why didn't I think of that?!" I've heard many supposed benefits of the placenta being consumed by the mother, but never heard of it being processed like this and given to a patient after a stem cell transplant, or given to someone for any other reason, in fact. When the doctor asked if we were interested in having Kal participate in this study, we came to a point where we felt at peace that it was a good decision to make. I mean, honestly, all of the medical knowledge, medicines, and procedures that Kal is benefiting from today is because plenty of people were willing to participate in medical studies. Since this study seemed to have hardly any risks from Kal participating in it, we wanted to pay it forward to those in the future by helping out with the study, in hopes that they learn something beneficial from it.

Once the stem cell lab workers arrived, they did some paperwork and prepared all of the equipment. We did have a pretty tense 15 minutes or so, though, because the product was dripping  a little from the IV bag. When the nurse mentioned it, everyone sort of panicked and put the bag back on ice until they could find something and fix the issue. Luckily, they figured out something else that would work just as well, and continued on with the transfusion. It was kind of funny and cute- the stem cell lab workers, and especially the lady who flew in from Chicago (that I believe is among those in charge of this study) were all so excited for this study and to see it in action. The lady from Chicago didn't even want to sit down or leave the room during the whole hour of transfusion because she was too full of jitters and excitement. She called this study her "baby," and said she wanted to visit Kal when he is older and free from his disease.

No hospital stay is complete without some cute hospital selfies!

The rest of the day was busy with different medicine and multiple checks for his vital signs related to this study. Other than that, though, it was just routine stuff. I counted the days Kal has been here, and I can't believe tomorrow will be his 12th day here! I swear, some days it seems to drag on, but it also hasn't felt like we've been here that long, either.