DAY #3 - First appointment

Today we met with the doctors at the Stem Cell Institute.  They explained the whole procedure and how it works.  Then they took 12 tubes of blood.  I guess the stem cells that they harvest are put in my own blood plasma for the infusions.  The doctors said they are going to run pre-op labs as well as check for any hormone imbalances that could potentially interfere with healing. I won't know the hormone results until next week sometime, when we meet with the director to devise an individualized plan of medicine and supplements I should take when I get home.  Also, I learned that they keep some stem cells at the Institute for up to 5 years in case I need to come back and have a booster.  The booster would mean no surgery, just the stem cell infusion, which would take about 3 days.  Good to know!

Not a whole lot else happened today.  My dad and I are just preparing for the surgery tomorrow by resting, chatting with some family members on skype, and eating healthy meals.  I can't eat or drink anything past 8:30pm since the surgery is so early.  The driver will pick us up at 6:30am and my appointment time is 7:00.  They will have to do pre-op stuff like get an IV started, etc., so I imagine the surgery is scheduled for 7:30-8:00.  The surgery itself should only take approximately 30-40 minutes and then they put me in recovery for about an hour.  Then I get to come back to the hotel and rest up.  The actual infusion of the stem cells won't be until next week, after they've cleaned and manipulated the cells.  They hope to have a minimum of 40 million stem cells from the fat tissue, but of course it is always better if there's more.

So anyway, I will update facebook letting people know I made it through the surgery ok,  Then once I rest a little bit, I will update this blog with the details.   Better get off to bed!