It’s nice when all you have to report is good news. Today went exceptionally well. There was the outside chance that the hickman line wouldn’t withstand the pressure of the apheresis machine. No problem there. The collection took a little longer than originally planned because there was a low concentration of cd34 cells in her blood. So, they increased the time the apheresis machine ran and it was the right decision. Plus, we found out that the staph infections were not MRSA. That makes life a little easier. So, Rafi is now taking Bactrim for the next 7 days, with diluted bleach baths and bactroban cream on the open wounds. The plan is now to be admitted next Tuesday, February 9 and have the first dose of busulfan on February 10. That would make February 19th transplant day.

I took some video of the apheresis process and will upload it in the next day or two. You’ll get to see how great Rafaella was during the process. She continues to amaze us at every turn. The machine is loud, there are people constantly in the room and there are a lot of tubes hanging all over the place. Later in the day Rafi told Jackie and I that she had fun. Who could blame her she got to watch Cars, Shrek and Tiger and Poo.