This day, every year, I recall being admitted to Apollo Hospital Hyderabad for my BMT.

22 Dec 2011 –

In the operation theatre, a port was placed on the upper part of the thigh to draw my blood. The insertion is made in one of the bigger arteries that carries blood from the heart to the legs. Hence, the pressure of blood is very high.

After the insertion, a nurse was told to put a lot of pressure with her hands on this part, so the blood clots and heals.

After a while, the pressure was removed, and I was sent to my room. There was some discomfort, and I had to sleep without moving all night.

This was 10 years ago. I am not aware if the procedures have changed now.

23 Dec 2011 –

The next morning , I was moved into a different room. I saw a huge box that appeared like a huge xerox machine. A tube from this machine was connected to the port in my thigh.

There was another port in my arm that was connected a few months ago through which I was given chemo.

Another tube from the machine was connected to this port .

The process began, and slowly, my blood was being drawn into the machine. This blood was sent to a centrifuge inside the machine, and stem cells were retrieved and stored away. The remaining blood was given back to me via the port in my arm.

The process went on for 8 hours when my oncologist said that the stem cells collected were sufficient.

There was no feeling whatsoever while the process was on. Just that I should not move and had to be lying down all the time.

The process was completely successfully.

I would be shifted to the main BMT on 24 Dec 2011.