Left and Right (with a heart between)

This is a photo from my first day of stem cell harvesting. Michael didn't take a photo from the second day because it would look just the same, only with the arms reversed.

This procedure, which required a lot of preparation, was very successful. The stem cells that the hospital harvested were immediately frozen. On June 30th (my mother's birthday) they will be thawed and pumped into my body with instructions to grow bone marrow.

For the first day of the procedure my left arm had to stay completely still while my blood circulated through a centrafugal machine. I could move my right arm (which also had an IV) to do whatever needed to be done hand-wise. I had to pay attention to my left arm and hand, though: when the machine beeped, I had to squeeze a flexible textured ball (probably silicone, definitely green). The beeping indicated that blood was not flowing the way it was supposed to flow.

The second day my right arm was the one staying still and squeezing the ball when necessary, and I could only use my left hand for the things that hands do.

I also needed to monitor both hands (on both days) for signs of tingling, so that my calcium and citrus levels could be adjusted. It was hard work, and I was at it for eight hours each day.

I woke up at home (yay) this morning with an odd feeling of heightened sensory awarness, which I attributed to getting a full night's sleep, after enduring insomnia from two days of stimulating injections given in the evening, which instructed my bones to release stem cells into my bloodstream.

After breakfast Michael set to work on fixing a fan that was making noise. He removed and cleaned the cap of the screw mechanism that attaches the blades to the motor, but he was baffled when he couldn't get the cap to screw back on.

Without even thinking about it I screwed cap on counter-clockwise. (Needless to say, he was impressed.)

Then, when I sat down at the piano to play some Haydn, I noticed that I had a much quicker left/right response than I have ever had, and that my hands were working together in a brand new way.

It was as if some kind of plaque had been cleaned from whatever it is that connects my brain to my hands. I also noticed that I had a more direct connection between my ear and my hands than I have ever had before while playing the piano.

I'm not supposed to play violin until this evening (twenty-four hours after my release from the hospital) because it would require arm strength to hold up the instrument and use the bow.

I'm excited to see what happens then, but for now I think I need a little nap before taking a walk (before it rains).