Month 8
Nia is 13
Month 8
Nia is 13
Nia goes back to the hospital. Her doctors collect more blood-making stem cells. She stays in the hospital for three days with no problems. Her doctors count the stem cells. They collected enough!
Your doctors will collect your blood-making stem cells.
You stay in the hospital for 3 to 5 days.
Each day:
- You get medicine (a shot of plerixafor) to release blood-making stem cells from your bone marrow into your blood.
- You are connected to a machine that collects the stem cells from your blood. This is called apheresis.
- It takes 6 to 8 hours each day.
- It is not surgery. You will be awake.
Sometimes, people have side effects.
Your doctors know what to watch for. They will be ready to treat you.
It is not common, but plerixafor can cause:
- Bone and muscle aches.
- Headache.
- Tiredness.
- Vomit (throwing up).
- Nausea (feeling sick in your stomach).
- Trouble sleeping.
Apheresis can make you feel:
- Lightheaded
- Chills
- Numbness around your lips.
- Cramps in your hands.
Some people can have a pain crisis or acute chest syndrome.
Apheresis is how blood-making stem cells are collected.
- Your blood-making stem cells are normally inside your bone marrow. Plerixafor gets the stem cells to move into your blood.
- Your blood goes through a central line into the machine.
- The machine separates out your stem cells and collects them.
- The machine returns the rest of your blood to your body.
Apheresis can be a hard procedure if you are tired, dehydrated, or having a pain crisis.
- You will be in a bed or chair for 6 to 8 hours.
- Laying still for a long time can cause a pain crisis or acute chest syndrome.
- Apheresis changes the amount of fluid in your body, which can cause a pain crisis or acute chest syndrome.
- Some people have a pain crisis when a central line is placed before apheresis.