Stem cells harvested, now more chemo

 

Last week Ciara finally had her stem cells harvested. The week started with Ciara going up to Crumlin to check blood levels to see if she was ready for harvesting. Monday's results showed that she was close but not close enough and to come back in the following day. Same story on Tuesday, close, but no cigar. Try again tomorrow. Wednesday the levels good and she went ahead with the harvesting. This involves being connected to a large machine which draws out her blood, runs it through a centrifuge, and puts it back in once the stem cells have been harvested. This is a three hour process of constant monitoring and Ciara got through it very well. She needed to come back in on Thursday to finish it off but all in all, quite uneventful!

Her blood count on Thursday showed signs that she would be ready for her next chemo session on Monday, and sure enough, it was. She's on day two of her second TVD session and is doing very well. She's coping with the TVD so much better than the last protocol and has no sickness whatsoever. Her energy levels are something to be experienced to be belived. There's no stopping her! She does however go so far as to crash in the afternoon yet refuses to nap, causing much stress to poor Yvonne. She's a rock though and does herself proud.