Stem Cells

A week ago I had the privilege of administering stem cells to this amazing, developmentally disabled man from Germany. He was smiling from ear to ear almost all day, so excited about receiving the treatment. We sang him happy birthday and he laughed at us. The cells were cryopreserved, which means that they are frozen at 170 degrees below celsius (freakin' cold!) and a tech had to be in the room with us to defrost them. The container they came in seriously looked like the syntox nerve gas canisters from 24, heh heh. Our patient became very serious when we were telling him about some side effects of receiving cryo cells, mainly the nausea and vomiting that most people experience. He asked us, "So, if I throw up, does that mean I'm going to lose my cells forever?" We assured him that he would not because they are going into his blood stream to stay. Then he asked about where his cells were coming from and we explained that a woman donated them just for him. Gravely, he asked, "Does that mean I am going to become a woman?" To his utter relief, we promised him he would not change genders. The third question that he asked was, "Did my chemotherapy give me the immune system of a baby?" I explained to him that the chemotherapy does make him very susceptible to sickness, much like a baby. I also told him that if the stem cells do their job, they will help to rescue his immune system and make it strong. "I am so thankful for today," he replied. He made it through transplant like a champ! What an example of a simple, beautiful, and hopeful spirit this man was to me.

Another story flashes back to a week previous, when I got to watch a cryo transplant on a young guy who had just gotten married. It was clear to me that he and his family were believers, as they were praying throughout the whole procedure. I just found out yesterday that his cells did not engraft and he died over the weekend. Whoa. It really makes me think about how all of these people are completely on the edge of life and death. They live in such uncertainty regarding whether or not they will make it through the week. This is weighty, especially to think of it in terms of salvation, but God reminds me that I am such a forward thinker and do not think of my life in such terms, but maybe I should. I see a gentleness and gratefullness in these patients and their families that I have yet to grasp.