Simply Amazing! Day +20!

Anna's transplant poster

Love and Support

Today is day +20. The morning started rather early with a baby who needed comfort as she could not breathe through her nose! I rubbed her down with vapor rub, gave her some cough medicine, and rocked her for quite some time before attempting to put her back into her own bed....eh....try again. She ended up at my side, the left side, because Zeke was already on my right side. So we squished but we finally fell asleep...on my part, only sort of. Fast forward a couple of hours...to 7:22 a.m., I woke with a start to a buzzing cell phone. I grabbed it quickly and noticed it was my husband's phone number. I answered a bit groggily and heard Anna's voice on the other end. "Mom? I'm sorry to wake you, but we have some news." I asked if we had gotten to 500. Anna answered, "532!" If it weren't for the two sleeping babies at my sides, I'm sure all of Washington State would've heard me shoutin' Hallelujah!! We praised the Lord together and then Craig led the three of us in a prayer of thanksgiving for the good news and for continued and complete healing for our dear daughter. If her numbers stay 500 or more tomorrow, she will officially be considered fully "grafted"!!!! What an exciting day! What a blessing to have such answers to all of our many prayers! And still, no need for a red cell transfusion!

During rounds, the doctors and staff discussed the goals from here on out. Not wanting to rush things too quickly, we understand that some things need to happen before Anna will be able to get short breaks from the hospital. They will start weaning Anna from IV meds to oral. She also must start eating food. We need her to be as healthy as possible! She has, of course, already done a great job of remaining physically active and this is very good. I look forward to the day we can walk hand in hand out into the warm sunshine of the day!!

Daddy's little girl

Love

Being grafted does not mean that we are out of the woods yet. It just means that Anna's body is now producing cells from Daniel's. We still must pray that her body will accept them as her own and that his cells will accept her body as their own. The graft will soon begin to do it's job and work on healing the sores throughout Anna's digestive tract. This will likely cause a bit more pain before it gets better. Swelling will also be an issue as the damaged tissues heal. Our biggest concern from this point on is GVH (graft versus host disease). This is where Daniel's cells recognize Anna's body as not their own and thus begin to attack her body as a foreign object. This is the point when lung and/or liver failure is most common as the cells attack those vital organs. Also, as she still has zero immune system, any kind of illness could cause major setbacks. We are, however, hopeful that with all of the good news, Anna will get to come home in a couple of weeks. We are preparing for her return, I am needing to brush up on the manual that teaches how to care for the immune suppressed patient. Bleach will become our new best friend. That and paper towels! Our complete thought process on life has to change for the next year! With all of that, I am so anxious to get my girl back in our home! Amongst her family!! I miss her terribly!! We miss her terribly!

The above picture is of Anna's transplant day poster. These posters are hand made by a husband of a nurse at Children's. Actually, I believe there are two husbands that work on them. At the beginning of Anna's treatment, she was given a sheet to fill out, telling about her interests and things she's done. These men then take that info and create these beautiful posters, using everything the patient has written about themselves. And then all of the nurses sign it. It now hangs on her door. The next picture is a precious one to me. Anna and Daniel both sporting their new looks. I love the bond that these two will always have with one another! And these pictures, I might add, were posted with a bit of a reluctant permission. It is a hard thing to be a beautiful young lady and to lose your hair! Very emotional, and I waited until Anna was ready. All I have to say is, she is still beautiful! No matter what! Cancer has not been able to take that from her! She is beautiful inside and out! Thank you Lord for this young woman that I have the privilege to call daughter! Lord, continue to give her strength, continue to use her for your honor and glory! May the light shine no matter what should come our way. Thank you for Anna's sweet spirit, her desire to share you with others, and for her precious smile! Thank you for answering our prayers!