Day 0
Today is D-day.
W's procedure this morning was a success! He rolled into that OR happy as a clam, ready to embrace the day. Oh ignorance is indeed bliss at times. He really hadn't fully grasped what he was stepping into, but God created him with an easy going personality that just makes things easier on the rest of us sometimes. And today was certainly no exception. We got a delayed start of about 30 minutes, and he ended up being in the OR for almost 2 hours. During the procedure, they paused to spin his bone marrow to determine if they have enough cells for N. They found that they needed more, so they went in and extracted again from his hips, making his time in the OR slightly longer than anticipated. The great news is that they got the perfect amount- plenty to give N an extra boost and potentially put him into recovery a day or so faster, but not too much to cause any complications.
After our littlest woke up, we wheeled him over to see his big brother in his room. They hugged, they said hi, and then W passed out on the couch for the rest of his time there. He did open his eyes at one point and got to see his cells being infused into N. We all cheered and congratulated him on doing a great job. He smirked, said ok, and drifted back to sleep.
The doctor explained that they had to do a lot of injections into his hip bone, so as expected he's extremely sore, groggy and just wants to hug his lovey on the couch. So that's what he is doing as we speak. Although a 5 year old cannot possibly comprehend it, one day he will realize the completely selfless and unparalleled gift that he gave our family today. He did this today expecting nothing in return, whole heartedly walking into that room in firm belief that he was giving his big brother something that only he could. This must be why God calls us to be childlike.
As far as our big boy goes, today was not as hard of a job for him. He sat in his bed while the bone marrow cells slowly got infused into his line over a 4 hour period. While the tough part is over for W, now begins the real party for N. Now is a waiting game for us to see how his body reacts over time. We have wiped out his bone marrow cells to make room for W's, so as his blood counts bottom out, we worry about infections of course, and all the other side effects we have fervently been praying about. But when his counts go back up, that's the sign to all of us that his body has now taken his brother's cells as his own. This is the most critical aspect of the transplant because we need his body to accept W's cells without rejection. So when his counts go back up, we hold our breath for the next 100 days to watch and see.... is his body taking it ok? I imagine any body would get confused when its system is being overridden. It's just a matter of how much his own body will fight against it being overtaken.
So I will end the update for today here because my eyes are crossing and I'm about to face plant into the keyboard. 😴
W's procedure this morning was a success! He rolled into that OR happy as a clam, ready to embrace the day. Oh ignorance is indeed bliss at times. He really hadn't fully grasped what he was stepping into, but God created him with an easy going personality that just makes things easier on the rest of us sometimes. And today was certainly no exception. We got a delayed start of about 30 minutes, and he ended up being in the OR for almost 2 hours. During the procedure, they paused to spin his bone marrow to determine if they have enough cells for N. They found that they needed more, so they went in and extracted again from his hips, making his time in the OR slightly longer than anticipated. The great news is that they got the perfect amount- plenty to give N an extra boost and potentially put him into recovery a day or so faster, but not too much to cause any complications.
After our littlest woke up, we wheeled him over to see his big brother in his room. They hugged, they said hi, and then W passed out on the couch for the rest of his time there. He did open his eyes at one point and got to see his cells being infused into N. We all cheered and congratulated him on doing a great job. He smirked, said ok, and drifted back to sleep.
The doctor explained that they had to do a lot of injections into his hip bone, so as expected he's extremely sore, groggy and just wants to hug his lovey on the couch. So that's what he is doing as we speak. Although a 5 year old cannot possibly comprehend it, one day he will realize the completely selfless and unparalleled gift that he gave our family today. He did this today expecting nothing in return, whole heartedly walking into that room in firm belief that he was giving his big brother something that only he could. This must be why God calls us to be childlike.
As far as our big boy goes, today was not as hard of a job for him. He sat in his bed while the bone marrow cells slowly got infused into his line over a 4 hour period. While the tough part is over for W, now begins the real party for N. Now is a waiting game for us to see how his body reacts over time. We have wiped out his bone marrow cells to make room for W's, so as his blood counts bottom out, we worry about infections of course, and all the other side effects we have fervently been praying about. But when his counts go back up, that's the sign to all of us that his body has now taken his brother's cells as his own. This is the most critical aspect of the transplant because we need his body to accept W's cells without rejection. So when his counts go back up, we hold our breath for the next 100 days to watch and see.... is his body taking it ok? I imagine any body would get confused when its system is being overridden. It's just a matter of how much his own body will fight against it being overtaken.
So I will end the update for today here because my eyes are crossing and I'm about to face plant into the keyboard. 😴
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