Thursday, April 20, 2006

We've Engrafted!!

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Grace has engrafted. On Tues. her poly's were .5, yesterday .66 and today .86. Two days at .5 or higher means that she has engrafted!! Ian and I are relieved. Grace is in wonderful spirits and Nana and Papa were very happy to see Grace after 38 days of not having seen her. She officially engrafted on day +27... remember my last blogger when I mentioned that the doc's begin to worry if she has not engrafted by day +28. It's just like Grace to push it to the end and make us all sweat a little. So our plans for the next little bit are:
Get her off GCSF (drug that stimulates her bone marrow so we can see how it does on its own)
Get her off antibiotics/antifungals/antivirals (she has been free of fever for 3 days but Infectious Disease wants to keep her on until the weekend because she was so febrile last week, +40 Celsius, and they could not find a source of infection)
Get her feeds up (via G tube) and off her motility drugs and antacids
Get her eating and drinking by mouth (even if just a little bit)
Keep her free of infection/fever
If all goes well we may do this by end of next week... we'll see!!
Grace is scheduled for an MRI on the 27 (a week today) and this MRI will determine what we will do over the next few months. We expect to still see the "suspicious spot". They may just want to watch it or we may go for another surgery. We'll let you know when we know.

Keep praying for our baby's good health & donate blood.

Today's a good day!
Love,
Les

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Day +17

Hi Everyone,

I don't even know where to begin. The last two weeks since transplant have been insane. Grace still has not engrafted so we are still very nervous. She came down with Influenza B which is not a problem when you have functioning bone marrow but is a challenge without it. She seems to be doing well right now... good spirits, playing but tired. She has needed 1-2 blood transfusions daily since transplant... she's probably received somewhere in the vicinity of 40-50 units of blood in total to keep her going. Please, if you can, donate blood. The hospital runs out all the time (especially platelets) and this leaves patients waiting and at risk until blood again becomes available. Grace is AB positive which is a rare blood type and she often gets her blood from only a couple of donors... can you imagine that there is someone out there that we don't even know donating there blood to help save my baby's life?? Grace's white blood cells are 0.3. To be engrafted she needs to have ploys (a part of white blood cells) of 0.5 for two days in a row. Grace's polys are 0.04 so we have a way to go. As long as Grace remains free of infection and her liver continues to function well we don't mind it taking a bit longer. Doc's don't start to panic until day 28. This week will be our week.

Pray, pray and pray some more for our baby's return to good health.

P.S. Dawson went home healthy last week.

P.S.S. Our camera was stolen out of our hospital room while the baby was sleeping and I went down for a coffee. Can you believe it??? I'm most upset that someone who was untrustworthy was in the room with the baby when I was not. I'm also upset that I have lost all the pictures that we have taken since this process has begun. It could of been worse though and Ian and I have vowed to never leave Grace alone again... not even to run and get a coffee while she is sleeping... It's unfortunate that things like this happen especially in a hospital for sick kids. What can you do? I'll buy a new camera tomorrow and try to get some pictures out soon.

Thanks for your prayers,
Les