My Favorite Slide

When I was in Minneapolis for the Lymphoma Workshop, several attendees asked me if I was feeling anxiety about my impending stem cell transplant (SCT). I told them that I was having anxiety about tying up loose ends and about my family, but none about the procedure itself.

That is until I saw "the slide" - the one with a giant sledge hammer that represented the effect of massive doses of high-potency chemo that precede the SCT. Geesh, could the doctor, a transplant specialist from the University of Minnesota Medical Center, have been any more subtle? I thought to myself that she should have used a slide of a giant anvil falling on an unsuspecting road runner. That would have gotten her point across.

But, of course, she went on to talk about the recovery - about how the stem cell transplant works as a "rescue procedure." (I like this terminology.) And how the patient will be supported with blood transfusions until the stem cells start producing their own red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. That process generally takes about two weeks.

Now that I think about it, that slide of the road runner and the anvil doesn't sound like such a bad idea. After all, the road runner always emerges with a cheerful "Beep, beep," feistier and stronger than ever.