Not sure what i want to say…  it went really well, the nurses were fantastic, there were some hiccups getting started, and some discomfort.  They heat up the blood before it is put back into your body, this was an odd sensation and one of many new experiences.   I have never had anything done intravenously.  It took some effort to get the placement of the needles right.  The nurses were remarkable in their ability to appease my curiosity and sooth my concerns. 

It was surreal to see so much of my blood in tubes moving in an elaborate system of extraction and injection.  After a while, watching the tomato soup colored accumulation of stem cells amass over six hours was an experience of ‘are we there yet?’  My left arm needed to be kept straight and warm because the needle in that arm was doing the extracting.  For a while I had to squeeze a squishy ball to get things flowing.  Remarkably this was accomplished minus the requested anti-anxiety drug and during all of the placing of needles.  By the end of the eight hours, I was holding the tubes, checking everything out and ultimately posing for a photo with the bag of my stem cells like it was no big deal.  In the end, it was pretty amazing to see a unit of stem cells and plasma carted off in a cooler to be delivered to the recipient.

Barbara’s companionship, friendship and support fills me with gratitude and delight.  From my arrival at the hotel last night throughout every minute of the process today into a surreal walk in Central Park on this exquisitely beautiful spring day in New York she’s been constant.  Another chapter to our 30+ year friendship.

Walking felt so strange, almost like I was a ghost.  We just took it real slow.  The play of light on blossoms, trees and people in the park was like walking into a painting.

Today was a milestone.  An achievement.  And now the thought goes to the recipient who will receive the cells within 24 – 48 hours.   May the engrafting process go smoothly, her stay in the clean room pass effortlessly, her journey home be happy and safe, and the remaining milestones met without obstacle.