b'Medicine & Researchinstalled in his chest, used in the delivery of chemotherapy. This procedure was painless and you can watch them insert it on the big screen if you like. Not sure what drug they used but I really didnt care what they did to me. And, I watched the whole thing!Next, began the treatment that would stimulate stem cell production, and with it came fatigue. I had been working remotely, but by the 7th day after my rst infusion, I could only work half days, or sometimes inThree weeks later, DeWayne was back at the two hour spurts. I ended up taking off a couplehospital to have a PICC line installed in his of days that I just couldnt make it. Over thearm to facilitate the next steps in the process. next week, he went to the hospital daily forThen, he was admitted to the hospital for the testing, uids, and treatments. I took advantageablation of his immune system. In this process, of [the time] and rested while I was gettinghe was given two different kinds of chemo the infusions. daily over ve days in order to wipe out the Then his stem cells were harvested in aimmune cells that were malfunctioning, so process called apheresis. One of the coolestthat his harvested stem cells could be things that I thought about as I was connectedreintroduced to restart his immune system to the [apheresis] machine, was the fact thatwith a clean slate. Those were some long it had pulled all the blood out of my bodydays, being hit with chemo over and over. He multiple times, separated the stem cells andasked friends and family to pray he would then put the other components back in. Innot get an infection or other complications in other words, all of my blood has been outsidethe days when his immune system was at its of my body and then put back in!How cool islowest. that? Following the stem cell harvest, DeWayneAfter confirming DeWaynes immune was able to get the port in his chest removedsystem was destroyed, it was time to return and go home. his stem cells so his body could begin the process of creating a new immune system. This is not an immediate process. I was told over the course of the next year, I would experience ups and downs. But this wouldnt be the MS ups and downs, it would be the process of my immune system rebuilding itself. On October 29, he received the infusion of his own stem cells. Over the next week and a half, he struggled with side effects of the chemo, including difficulty with swallowing and temporarily msfocusmagazine.org 14'