His first day of radiation is almost over. She carries a cooler filled with bags of bone marrow, straight from the hip of a stranger. Nurses crowd into Scott's room. Scott and Carlyn's families are here, too. Carlyn holds Scott's hand.
Wrapped presents wait on another table.
Scott is about to get his second chance at life, his second birth. A birthday celebration on the day of the marrow transplant is a tradition at the Hutchinson center, also known as The Hutch. The marrow looks like lumpy ketchup in a clear bag. Weeks earlier, surgeons placed a Hickman catheter directly into Scott's chest. The Hickman catheter has two plastic prongs sticking out.