Cells are here!

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Today was the day! This is Marc tonight. It's been quite a day for Judy. She got half of her stems cells back. It went well but unfortunately she has developed a fever, not at good thing. They are taking every precaution at this time with a broad spectrum of antibiotics as they wait for the cultures to grow and tell them exactly what is happening. With absolutely no immune system left this could be a real challenge. It was quite a experience to see how the stems cells are reinfused. The tech from Fred Hutch showed up at 2:30 PM with a suit case in tow. Inside of it was all of his tools to prepare the stems cells. They are frozen in DMSO at -180 F. He has a warming pan of water that heats them up to exactly 98.6 and he prepares one bag at a time. She had four bags of cells today and will have three bags tomorrow. The cells are gravitated into her via the Hickman along with a host of other meds. During the infusion there were two nurses and the Fred Hutch tech. They do not leave the room and monitor everything imaginable. It took just over two hours to complete the infusion. Judy had a scowl on her face during most of it and dosed on and off. It left a horrible taste in her mouth and they expected that so they have a supply of lemon drops to suck on and they did the trick it seems that lemon drops are the only thing that works (according to them). Judy is so brave to go through this without a single complaint. The nurses all love her and almost fight over her gets to be her primary care nurse. Gives a lot of peace of mind knowing that they care that much about her and they all want her to get through this. A special thanks to John, Sharon and Diana who have all sacrificed to be here with Judy during this fight. Also thanks to all who pray for her complete recovery. Round two tomorrow!!