Bubble Boy is Born

Tyler's infusion took place without complications today. It started about 1:30 and ran until just after 7pm. We were able to help him get settled in his room before the infusion started, but once they wheeled in the cart of radioactive materials we had to leave the room.

The picture at left shows Tyler in his room from our chairs on the other side of the hall. Although we have teased Tyler about becoming a bubble boy, you can see that he isn't really in any sort of bubble. He is in a regular hospital room (with another fantastic view) at UW. In order to keep the room radioactivity to a minimum, they have covered every surface that Tyler might touch in the course of his stay. You can kind of see the blue tape along the floor coverings and on his table. People emit radioactivity, but objects do not become radioactive unless they are touched by a radioactive person.

At the end of the infusion, Larry (from Nuclear Medicine) measured Tyler's radioactivity level to determine safe distances for visitors and nurses to stand outside Tyler's room. They measure the amount of radioactivity in milliRoentgens per hour (mR/hr). This is essentially the amount of radioactivity you absorb if you are standing 1 meter away for 1 solid hour. Tyler was emitting 77 mR/hr at the end of his infusion. He'll be isolated at UWMC until his radiation level is down to 7mR/hr, which we expect will be early next week.

With luck, the radiation and the antibody that they gave him today will search and destroy any leukemia in his body. Then we move on to the next step of this process...

Transplant -12 days and counting