Prep for Stem Cells

Liam's frozen stem cells are just sitting here frozen in a tank. This is all crazy foreign to me!

They are loading Liam up with medications now, he's pretty dozy from them. They said many kids do get nauseous, they have given him more anti-nausea medicine than he's ever had all at once before. He's  suspicious about what is going on, so he's hugging onto teddy and being very quiet. We thought Liam was sleeping until Troy tried to turn off the volume of the tv and he up and yelled "Dad!".

Try explaining a stem cell rescue to a 4 year old, I can hardly understand it myself. They are giving you stem cells, to make you feel better, but the stem cells might make you feel sick, um, ok

They don't thaw the stem cells until the very last minute. When they give the stem cells to him, it's done through his central line, like a blood transfusion, and only takes a few minutes. It's all the prep and checks that take time.

If you want to read more, this link is to the Mayo website. In Liam's case, the chemo has killed off all his stem cells. Stem Cell Rescue