Germany 2009 -- Day 3 -- October 19th

Today was the first day of Dave's procedure. For those of you that didn't follow along last year, or maybe need a little refresher - this is the part of the procedure where they withdraw the bone marrow. I was able to bring in our camera this time and take some photos so that you can hopefully view and follow along with these steps of the procedure. This is probably by far the easiest part of the procedure, and yet the longest of actual "work" being done. First they took us into a "clean" room and we had to adorn hair coverings, masks and gowns to cover our clothing, as well as plastic covers for our shoes.

Dave was then asked to go to a private room where Dave transferred onto a small hospital bed. He faced away from the edge on his side, and curled his knees upt toward his stomach. Next, they gave Dave a small dose of a local anesthetic before attempting to withdraw the bone marrow. The tool used works very much like the needle used for inserting an IV, only heavier because it has to be inserted into the back of the pelvic bone. It was inserted into the skin of his lower back (just above the tush); the doctor turned it once or twice (I assume to “drill” into the bone) and then removed the inner needle to leave a hollow tube going into the center of the bone. After that it was a lot like having a large blood test done. He simply filled several tubes with the bone marrow by attaching them to the hollow tube until full and then removing the tube and adding another.

This year they were able to draw 25 vials. Last year they stopped at the minimal of 15, because they were not getting enough marrow to come out. This year they were able to pull the maximum which is 25 vials. It looks like a whole lot, because each vial is about the size around of a tube of lipstick and about 3 inches long. I think this years total was around 175ml of bone marrow. After that was done, the tool was removed and they place a piece of gauze for pressure and then a small bandage over the to stop any bleeding and set up our next appointment for Wednesday. Dave has had a little bit of a problem with increased spasticity, which is probably just the body's reaction to the discomfort from the extraction (for any of you that have ever had bone marrow drawn, you know that "discomfort" is an understatement). We are back in the room now and will be having some dinner, watching a pay-per-view movie in the room and having an early night. Tomorrow we head for Old downtown and also what I like to call "the affordable district" for some shopping.