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Liz, We only collect adults and use actual body weight in determining how much to collect. We have a simple format we follow for collecting: 2 million CD34+/kg is minimum dose and goal is 5 for collection for each transplant. In cases where we collect for 2 transplants (mostly myeloma), the minimum we would want to collect is 4 and our goal is 10. We only use Plerixafor if we cannot mobilize a patient through usual methods (G-CSF only or G-CSF plus chemo). We had one special circumstance when we used it on a patient who had radiation to the pelvic area and was treated with many cycles of lenalidomide for myeloma (which has caused us to fail mobilization a few times when last treatment was done with close proximity to mobilization). We managed to get enough cells for two transplants with that one. Ann

I moved my lab a couple of years ago to an attached building but different floor. I only had one freezer to move, but it was a nail biter nonetheless. There really wasn't a good way to secure things inside the freezer, aside from it being closely packed already. We had some cells in the freezer that were not going to be used, so I used them as my 'test samples' and checked the condition of them prior to the move (make sure they were not cracked or anything). I made sure they were distributed in different areas of the freezer in case one area of the freezer might be jolted more so than other areas. We checked the temp before the move, then slowly moved the freezer to it's new location. Every bump we hit, well, we tried to make it a gentle bump at best. Going on the elevator was fun, since I could envision the wheels settling into the gap between the floor and the elevator floor. This fortunately did not happen. We recorded the amount of time it took to move the freezer, and the temperature once it was in its new home. I then checked on the condition of the test cells, and all made it without incident. We wrote this up as a validation of sorts. Best of luck with the move! Ann