Day 9: Aaron had a good start to the day, he was connected to the Apheresis machine around 8:30am to collect his Stem Cells and although he was a little uncomfortable the first few hours went smoothly. Dr F explained that he may experience tingling in the mouth and numbness during the process which he did. About half way thru Aaron commented that his jaw and back were aching, he was feeling very hot, he was dizzy and his head was beginning to pound. This was not like any other headache he has experienced and his description had the pain and discomfort worse than any motorcycle accident he has had (and he has had many!)......Then it all started to get a little more serious and Dr F and his team seemed to take over the room. The machine was stopped and heart monitors were brought in. It was a flutter of activity surrounding him for the next few hours with Dr F, Anastasia and the nurses monitoring and reassuring Aaron and I that everything would be ok. They also assured us that this was not related to the HSCT or to MS and as it turns out there are hereditary heart problems in Aarons family. His anxiety as well as the procedure were causing some concern. He was given medication and a drip, monitored constantly and he settled for the afternoon. It was an exhausting day for Aaron physically, and for both of us mentally and emotionally. During the whole time all the staff were absolutely wonderful and I will be eternally grateful for the presence of our Aussie Warrior Family for their support here on the ground in Moscow. Around 5:30pm Dr F returned to the ward to give us the best news of the day - even after all the worry, doubt and concern about the treatment continuing and only spending 70% of the time on the Apheresis machine, Aaron produced 1.2 million Stem Cells!!! Had he been on the whole time he might have reach the 2 million target in one day! Dr F was very happy with this and so are we {insert happy dance here!}. They will continue to monitor Aaron tomorrow and after a few additional tests in the morning they will put him on a Holter monitor (a machine that continuously records the hearts rhythms) and then connect him back up to the Apheresis machine for a shorter time to collect the remaining Stemmies. Dr F and Anastasia have both commented that they believe Aaron will have good results from this treatment and our faith in them remains strong. BRING ON THOSE STEMMIES AARON!! And lets have a calmer day tomorrow xx Only 20 days to go!
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 19:48:24 +0000
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