With a little knock on the door this morning, in came Dr. Fedorenko, wheeling a little trolley behind him. Either his knock-out sleeping pills are still working well, or he’s a little early.

Yup – about an hour earlier than I expected (or remembered), in he walks with his wheels of steel. He lines up the machine and raises my bed height for a better view of what’s about to happen. No time for a shower – I’m getting my tube lines wired up from my neck while Anastasia makes sure I’m comfortable for my Lennon-esque bed sit-in. She makes me a coffee and hands me every possible gadget and cable I could need.

A few squirts of alcohol rub later, the machine spools up – pretty little lines of crimson making their way through the tubes, like one of those fun drinking straws. A nurse hangs a long bottle over the side of the bed.

“Five hours,” she says.

Suddenly, the strong coffee may have been a mistake.

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The Collection Begins

After a few pleasantries, okays, thumbs-ups, smiles – they leave me to my devices. I lie back, thinking just how amazingly relaxed I feel. Leading up to this trip had been non-stop – fundraising, working, meeting people, getting ready. Just laying here is exactly what I’ve needed for a long time.

Bliss.

Even though the machine took my blood twice around to be filtered, I didn’t feel a thing. I just lay there, kept up with messages, listened to a little music… all I needed was some oils and lemongrass, and I could have easily been elsewhere.

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Five Hours Later

Dr. Fedorenko came back in, inspected the bag of cells, and said confidently that it looked a good colour and consistency.

Job’s a good’un.

Now, for that shower I’d been hankering for.

“Give us a little time, and we’ll have the numbers for you,” he says.

Once I was showered up, a couple of the lads from the ward asked how it went. Having no previous experience with this kind of thing before, I told them:

“Yup, good. Comfortable. No dramas – and none of the bone pain I’d heard about!”

“What? You only managed one bag of cells?”

Sods.

Fortunately, Dr. Feders was quick on hand with a big smile and a hug, announcing…

THREE MILLION CELLS COLLECTED!!!

Nailed it!!!!! 🙂

2.9 from the other lads. Ahem. 😉

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Ending the Day Right

Just as I was considering settling in for the evening, there was a knock at the door.

“You ready yet?”

Haha – I guess the lad had a great idea but forgot to tell anyone else. Ten minutes later, we’re both sat in a restaurant, clinking a good Russian beer to end a good day.

Na Zdorovie! 🍻