SIMON'S PLACE | Transplant

All went well today with Simon's infusion of stem cells. He's been chipper, had a little appetite, and taken it all in stride. He doesn't really notice the stem cell infusion except that he is receiving large amounts of IV fluids to help cleanse his body of the garlicky/creamed corn-smelling preservative that kept the stem cells alive while frozen since February 5. That means he needs to urinate frequently.

Also, after a week long hiatus, his bowels began to move again today. And quickly at that. Markus and Mary both spent time hectically catching and cleaning up after bursts of diarrhea.

GLOSSARY

BLOOD COUNTS
WBC (white blood cells; infection-fighters) normal range: 4.5-13.5 K/MM3
Hemoglobin (carries oxygen in blood, low=anemic) normal range: 12.5-16.0 g/dl
Hematocrit (not totally sure, but related to red blood cells) normal range: 36.0-49.0%
Platelets (blood clotters; low means risk of internal/external bleeding) normal range: 150-450 K/MM3
ANC (absolute neutrophil count; basic measure of immune system) normal range: 1.8-10.1 K/MM3

GLUTAMINE an aminio acid that can reduce mouth sores after intensive chemotherapy. Not commonly used at UM Hospitals, but hightly recommended by other parents in our Neuroblastoma listserv community. Dr. Yanik said it would be OK to try it and ordered it for Simon.

MYEOLOABLATIVE destroying of bone marrow. Pre-transplant chemotherapy is designed to kill off all bone marrow in the body. The transplant introduces new cells to create new marrow.

NEUPOGEN white blood cell production stimulating agent; injected subcutaneously while WBC is low.

TRANSPLANT

GLOSSARY