As of this morning, Mark's white blood cell count still had not hit zero. Once that happens, his count will begin to rise as he recovers from the chemo.
During the four days of chemo, Mark received a combination of chemotherapy plus growth factor. The process is called Mobilization and the purpose is to stimulate the bone marrow to release stem cells into the peripheral blood. Stem cell collection will begin when testing shows the desired number of stem cells in the blood.
Stems cells are collected through a method which allows the removal of only the desired part of the blood. An instrument called a blood cell separator draws blood from the vein through a tube to a centrifuge that separates the blood into red cells, white cells, and plasma layers. The portion of the white cell layer that includes the stem cells plus a small amount of plasma and red cells are collected. The rest of the blood will go back into Mark's body immediately, usually through the second lumen of the catheter, all in a continuous process. The volume of the collected stem cells may range from about ¼ to 1 ¼ cup.
Stem cell collection usually takes 4 to 6 hours, depending on the volume of blood the instrument processes, however it could take up to 5 days. Factors that influence the amount of blood processed will include Mark's blood cell counts, the stem cell count, cell dose needed, and Mark's size and weight.
After collection, the stem cells will be frozen in liquid nitrogen and then taken to the stem cell lab for storage until the day of transplant. Mark will then be ready to receive high-dose chemotherapy which is designed to destroy myeloma cells.
Mark's mom is staying with him today while Dianna takes care of some things at home. Dixie was excited to be able to spend more time with him.
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