Day 0

Kristi is getting her transplant now! This is probably the most... convenient? transplant you can get (modulo 9days of ablation therapy). It is simply a transfusion (you can see it in her IV line). This is true for the donor too. In this case, Kristi randomized to a study using stem cells extracted from peripheral blood, rather than bone marrow. For the donor, this meant an IV extraction of blood, which was filtered to extract the stem cells; a far better prospect than 200 individual bone marrow extractions. The doctor wouldn't tell us the gender of the donor. He says we have to wait for one year. I think she's female, K thinks male.

Despite my nervousness, K's doctor says she's a super-star of the BMT unit for doing so well tolerating the ablation. She certainly is a tough one, if not a sleepy one. Nurses and aids gave her the birthday balloon and a cute blanket with a heart on it (seen in the lower right corner). This is terrific for Kristi. She gets to celebrate two birthdays, with the second one three days before mine;)

Up next: around 25 days of waiting for the transplant to graft. Once her immune system is back up, she can go home. After that, we look forward to day 100, which is the landmark for acute graft versus host rejection. Eventually her new immune system will accept her, and rejection will no longer be an issue, around 1 year post transplant. The transplant itself, yes all of it, is seen at the right.