Today got off to a busy start. As predicted, Collin's stem cell collection took place this morning. After rearranging some furniture and the IV pole to make room for the necessary equipment in our small room, a large apheresis machine was brought into the room. The special tubing was connected to Collin's Broviac catheter; one tube took the blood from Collin into the apheresis machine, where a centrifuge spun it into the different blood components. The stem cells and some plasma were taken out of his blood, and then the parts of the blood that weren't used were put back into his body through the other tube
in the Broviac. Collin had been given some Tylenol and Benadryl prior to the collection to prevent any adverse reactions, and ended up sleeping through the three hour procedure. The stem cells then had to be counted in the lab to make sure enough of them were collected; if not, the whole procedure would need to be repeated tomorrow. The goal was to collect 10 million stem cells; we got word this afternoon that they collected 80 million! Those stem cells and the plasma will be mixed with albumen to increase the volume, and then it will all be frozen until Collin needs it to rescue his body from the final, mega-high dose of chemo.
Since it is the weekend, the rest of the day was kind of quiet. I climbed into Collin's bed for a short time this afternoon and dozed with him. Early this evening Neya and my Mom came in so we could all eat dinner together (Bill was already here). I hadn't seen Neya since Tuesday because she had been sick, so we didn't let her visit until today. Collin gave Neya lots of high-fives, and he played with one of her Beanie Babies that she had brought with her. She said that since he enjoyed playing with it so much, she would leave it here at the hospital for a few days for him. It was really sweet of her. She said the most important thing was her baby boy. Collin did a lot of smiling, laughing, and high-fiveing this evening. It seems that he wants to sit up more, so I had him sitting on my lap. He wanted to nurse, but he doesn't yet have the coordination/control over his facial features that he
needs to do so successfully; so instead we fed him pumped breast milk on a spoon. He didn't have any difficulties swallowing, and seemed to really enjoy it. Neya even got to help feed the milk to Collin, and she did a great job! Then Collin was tired out, so I cuddled with him until he fell asleep, holding my hand in his little hands. Those loving, quiet, peaceful little moments are priceless!
in the Broviac. Collin had been given some Tylenol and Benadryl prior to the collection to prevent any adverse reactions, and ended up sleeping through the three hour procedure. The stem cells then had to be counted in the lab to make sure enough of them were collected; if not, the whole procedure would need to be repeated tomorrow. The goal was to collect 10 million stem cells; we got word this afternoon that they collected 80 million! Those stem cells and the plasma will be mixed with albumen to increase the volume, and then it will all be frozen until Collin needs it to rescue his body from the final, mega-high dose of chemo.
Since it is the weekend, the rest of the day was kind of quiet. I climbed into Collin's bed for a short time this afternoon and dozed with him. Early this evening Neya and my Mom came in so we could all eat dinner together (Bill was already here). I hadn't seen Neya since Tuesday because she had been sick, so we didn't let her visit until today. Collin gave Neya lots of high-fives, and he played with one of her Beanie Babies that she had brought with her. She said that since he enjoyed playing with it so much, she would leave it here at the hospital for a few days for him. It was really sweet of her. She said the most important thing was her baby boy. Collin did a lot of smiling, laughing, and high-fiveing this evening. It seems that he wants to sit up more, so I had him sitting on my lap. He wanted to nurse, but he doesn't yet have the coordination/control over his facial features that he 
needs to do so successfully; so instead we fed him pumped breast milk on a spoon. He didn't have any difficulties swallowing, and seemed to really enjoy it. Neya even got to help feed the milk to Collin, and she did a great job! Then Collin was tired out, so I cuddled with him until he fell asleep, holding my hand in his little hands. Those loving, quiet, peaceful little moments are priceless!
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