The perfect hum of the Apheresis machine reminds me of the consistent rhythm of my sewing machine. It is in perfect tempo as it spins Dave’s blood. The nurses are not only impressed with the veins he offered them in his arms, but additionally impressed with the hue of his cells as they are being collected. The vein-to-vein procedure is taking blood from his absolutely still left arm and transferring it to an Apheresis machine. A circular spinning motion separates the cells so that the heaviest part of the cells (red blood) falls to the bottom. The white blood cells are separated and usually lie within the middle part of the collection. The top portion is a clear-like serum. They are collecting the middle part of this separation for the CAR T-Cell engineering process. This pale yellow liquid continues its path to a bag hanging up high, while the top and bottom portions are returned to a vein in his right arm. Most importantly is that his left arm doesn’t move throughout the four-hour process and his right arm moves minimally.

Once the nurses are satisfied with the collection, and that it meets high standards set by the research company, we will be off to another floor in the clinic. Dave will receive chemo, to keep ALL in check while the cells are being engineered. He will also receive a blood transfusion because his red blood count is running low today.

All in all, everything is in sync and going as planned. We should be done at the clinic within eight hours. It is perfect timing to still enjoy the beautiful day. BTW- thank you for sending pictures and reminding us of all the love and support from the Tag Team. We are so blessed.