Marrow Found Its Way

Remove marrow from Lynette's body with BIG needle. Marrow seeing the light of day for the first time. Shove marrow in bags and leave Lynette passed out on the operating table. Bye, bye Lynette says marrow as marrow is put on elevator and sent to Valerie. This strange big sister asking to hold the bags as the bags are brought into the room. She is crying. What a welcome. Who is this person any way? She is holding marrow bags to her checks but marrow doesn't know what is happening except the nurse is hanging the bags and here we go down another tube and into her central line and body. This looks more like what we are used to. Swim around, swim around. Two days of swimming around in the dark and here comes the poison -- chemotherapy drugs to knock down the aggressive T-cells in Lyn's marrow. Snipers, pot shots, mayhem, shock and awe. Collaterally damage. Marrow's hit. Dive and cover. Dive and cover. And then it gets real quiet. For nineteen days it gets real quiet. The projected miracle is that the marrow will find its way and make a new home and make blood. Yesterday, I asked the doctor to come in for a special consult. I had two questions written down: 1. Am I going to die here? and 2. How long is too long to wait for engraftment? Her response to 1. "That's not our plan." What could take you out now is infection. Response to 2. "We're waiting. It could be another couple of weeks yet."

4:35 a.m. this morning the nurse comes in. "Good news," she claims. She didn't have to say anything else. I knew she was telling the news of engraftment. Day 19. White blood cells go from zero to 0.18. Enough of a bump to believe that Lyn's marrow has found its way and made it's home and is making blood.