BETA - How many cells do you aim to collect during the harvesting process? Why are extra stem cell collected for later use? How can these stem cells be used in the future?

[Music] what is neutropenia and how long does it last so neutropenia is when there is a type of white blood cells called neutrophils they're very low or absent in the blood neutrophils are very important in fighting bacteria and fungi the melphalan kills the neutrophils or the cells that produce the neutrophils in the bone marrow and until the new stem cells kick in new neutrophils won't be made so typically four to five days after the transplant the neutrophil count will start going very low usually under 500 that's when we worry about infections and typically it stays there for about five to seven days before it starts recovering so that period of time people are more susceptible to bacterial infections in particular what is a neutropenic diet the neutropenic diet is where you minimize the types of foods that maybe aren't cooked well that have bacteria on them so for example moldy cheese right blue cheese that's not a good idea during a neutropenia because it can increase the risk for an infection things that are not washed well things that aren't cooked well like raw eggs those things should be avoided during neutropenia but there are a lot of controversies in this area we do understand now that within our gut and there is a large microbiome and some studies suggest that following strict neutropenic diets make absolutely no difference in how patients get through transplant so normally what I tell patients is eat a healthy diet you know avoid certain foods that increase your risk as long as food is cooked it's generally good most of the time during the transplant procedure I tell them to eat chicken noodle soup because you know it's like getting through a flu that that works real well and it's light on the stomach so that that's usually what I recommend [Music]