From Mike: Transplant Complete

The transplant was started at 10:50am this morning and ended at 11:35am. The cord blood arrived in a large syringe. I was surprised how little blood is actually used. In fact, because of the small amount of cord blood cells, many adults don't have the option of using cord blood. Because Dawn is so little she was able to use it and she's the first adult here at MUSC to get a cord blood transplant. It's done frequently on the pediatric side.


Life saving cord blood

The process of the transplant is very simple. A new line was hooked into her central line and a pump began pumping saline through the line. There is a "T" connector halfway down the line where the cord blood syringe attaches. A small valve allows the cord blood to enter the line. The nurse pushes a small amount of the cord blood into the line and the saline pushes it down the line and into her blood stream. The nurse continues to do this in small doses until the syringe is empty. The actual infusion took about 30 minutes. They take her vitals about every 5-10 minutes during the process. A bone marrow transplant itself is a pretty simple process. The preparation and the effects it has on the body however isn't.



PLAY VIDEO: You can see the nurse push a small dose of cord blood into the line


Nurse Jill did the transplant



A few interesting facts about the process: Dawn's blood type is currently A negative, the cord donor was A positive, so Dawn will also become A positive. I told her she's going from an A- to an A+. Also, the cord blood was labeled as collected on April 16, 2003 so this cord blood came from somebody who's five years old. Speaking of birthdays, the nurses here sent Dawn a cake to celebrate her "new birthday".


Somebody can't spell "Wishes" LOL