Day 34 I went for my medical today, it was a bit scary in a way, I’ve never had a medical before and I was slightly scared that they were going to find something wrong with me that I didn’t know about. The medical was at University College Hospital (UCH) and it was really easy to get to, I ended up being early as I’d left a bit of extra time in case I got lost! Firstly I had a chest x-ray and then an ECG. Next was a general history and examination with a doctor to check my general fitness, she also went through the consent forms with me (they’re quite thorough). I also had to give some more bloods and a urine sample before talking through the more specific aspects of donating with another doctor. Everyone I came into contact with was lovely, I was given plenty of opportunity to ask any questions I had and felt very comfortable asking them and chatting to the doctors. I left feeling much more relaxed than when I arrived at the hospital and reassured that I was in very safe hands. Day 37 I got the phone call today to say that I was medically fit to donate, I’m going to donate by the peripheral method which means that I’ll have injections of growth factors for the four days leading up to my donation and then donate by having apheresis – I’ll have needles in each arm and my blood will be taken out of one arm, a machine will filter out the stem cells which are the bits they need, and then the rest of my blood, including my red blood cells, will be put back into my other arm. My mum has said she wants to come with me when I’m having it done and that’s ok with me, I don’t really want to be in London on my own for two or three days when I’m having it done and she’s probably the only person who could have the time off for it. The ANT have booked a hotel for us and will send train tickets for us both so, again all I have to do is go. Day 44 I had my first injection of GCSF (granulocyte colony stimulating factor) today. A nurse came round to do it, I was really nervous beforehand though as I’d read all sorts of information on the side effects of the drug and although they don’t sound too bad (mainly flu-like symptoms) I was worried that I might get them badly, or that they might be worse than I expected. The nurse was really nice and explained everything to me, I have to have four doses of GCSF a day, 2 big doses and 2 small doses but they mix them so I only actually have 2 injections, each one comprising of a small and a large dose of the drug. The injections themselves felt a bit weird, the drug was cold (it had been in a cool box all day) and it stung a bit as it was being injected but that soon went away. The nurse had to stay with me for an hour to make sure I didn’t have any adverse reactions to the injection but I felt fine and before she left she took my temperature and blood pressure both of which were fine. I had a slight headache that evening (mentioned as a side effect of the drug) but I took some paracetamol and they got rid of the headache no problem. |
