As you can see from this photo taken from the the bridge across the Neckar river in the centre of Tübingen, it really is a beautiful town. It has a completely different feel to Griefswald, where Ryan had his immunotherapy treatment last year. Although the next time we go we wont see much of it for quite some time as we will be with Ryan in isolation in hospital but we will have plenty of opportunity once he is well again.
I have to admit to feeling quite anxious as I sat in the waiting room. I was eventually called in to see the nurse and it was immediately apparent blood was the first thing to be tested. I saw my name on a little pot containing 5 empty vials, I didnt see that all the other pots behind also had my name on! When the nurse picked up 4 little pots I laughed and said 'They aren't all for me are they?' 'I'm afraid they are' was her reply. Gareth said my face was a picture and he had great pleasure counting the vials and announcing that there were 23 that needed to be filled.
After that it was just routine tests; ultrasound, x-ray, lung function, urine tests and ECG. The hospital was very organised and there was very little waiting between tests. Then there was a short wait before a talk with the consultant in charge of the stem cell collection procedure. She talked us through what was required of me, the side effects and the risks involved. In short I will need to have injections twice a day for 5 days from the 13th - 17th September to force my body to produce stem cells, then on the 17th and 18th I will have one line inserted into each arm, the tubing will connect me to a cell separator machine and my blood will flow out of one arm, inside the tubing, to the machine where it will spin around at high speed. The spinning separates the different components of the blood into layers based on their weight. The stem cell layer will then be collected and the remaining blood will be returned via the other arm. This process takes approximately 5 hours, each day. Enough said about that then. I've borrowed some chick flicks to try and distract myself. We were shown the room where this will take place, there can collect from 4 patients at any one time and you have to remain in bed for the duration of the process but Yes you can be disconnected to use the bathroom - I asked!
My stem cells are then processed by a laboratory and will be given to Ryan fresh the following day.
We have also been in touch with the parents house where we will be staying and were pleased to here that they are expecting us. They didnt have a problem with us arriving late in the evening and will be leaving a key for us as we anticipate arriving between 10-11pm on the 3rd September as Ryan is due in hospital on the 4th.
Ryan told me yesterday that he is quite excited about going to Germany. When I asked why he said he wants to see his new hospital room, he can play the x-box as long as he likes, he gets his new x-box games and he will be 'duffing up' his baddie at the same time. That just about sums him up.
We havent pretended to him that is going to be easy, we have explained the treatment to him in a way that he can understand; he knows that his baddie is in for a big fight and he knows that is going to be hard on him, he will feel rubbish, have a sore mouth and tummy, will sleep much more than he wants to but although he hears all of this he only focuses on the positive things and that is what will get our beautiful boy through this.
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