~~~~~ Day 0 - Happy Stem Cell Birthday to Me! ~~~~~

What an emotional day this has been! We (Group 3) arrived this morning at Clinica Ruiz to begin our lives moving forward without MS progression. We were called into the procedure room by 2's to receive our stem cells back. Karen from Georgia, and Lorraine from the UK were first. After about 25 minutes, they returned triumphantly with their carers, Yankee Pete and Ian, to cheers, tears, hugs and kisses, and a birthday song. Next, it was my turn along with UK Steve. When we arrived in the procedure room, we were shown our labeled bag of stem cells and asked to identify our names to insure we were receiving our own. I said to my stemmies, "Hello again! Did you miss me? Get ready to go back to work." As they were were being returned through the picc line, the tears began to roll. As I lay on the bed, I thought about the love of friends and family who had brought me to this moment. I said a prayer of Thanksgiving and Blessing for each of you... too many to mention by name here, but you know who you are. Then, in my mind, I pictured everyone around the table where my fundraising team sat, planning ways to get me to Mexico. I am so thankful for you and the work you put in to make our fundraising a huge success! I am Blessed beyond measure!!! 

When my stem cell bag was empty, it was time to remove the picc line. That was a bit painful, but fairly quick, I was so happy to get rid of that thing. Then Dave and UK Janet came in to retrieve us. We received the same rousing applause and love on our return to the group. Tears flowed freely once again. UK Peter was the last to receive his stem cells, and we celebrated once more as Angie, his girlfriend, brought him back to us, After some birthday pics, we loaded onto the vans and were whisked away to a Luncheon Birthday Party at one of our favorite outdoor restaurants we had visited earlier on our sight seeing trip to Chalula. We thought that our meal sharing had come to an end yesterday, but our carers had conspired to give us one last surprise before our isolation, (after getting permission from the medical staff, of course). We still had a few hours left before neutropenia became official, We had a delicious lunch followed by a beautiful Birthday cake that our carers had purchased earlier in secret. They are a sneaky bunch. They, along with our drivers, Tony and Lorenzo, have nicknamed themselves, "The Wolf Pack". After a wonderful, exhausting day that I will forever cherish, we headed back to the apartments and sadly parted ways. We will see each other periodically when we travel back to the clinic for brief hematology consults every other day. The carers will still get together for grocery runs and visits. For the patients, we have messaging and Skype. 

I've had a good nap this afternoon, but after after catching up on the blog and finishing my water quota for the day, I'm ready for bed again. Dave conked out a couple of hours ago. It's been a long, emotional day for him, as well. Goodnight, All! Sweet dreams of a healthier future...