Transplant Complete

     Yesterday went according to expectation. Ethen did not vomit, but he had bouts of rage throughout the morning and into the afternoon. We eventually gave Ethen oxycodone in hopes that it might help, which seemed to take the edge off of the pain. Toward evening we moved across the hall to open a room for another patient coming in for an allogeneic (i.e., donor) transplant. I think Ethen thought he was going home because he had a giddy smile on his face when he went into the hallway. Though we didn't go home, the new room has created a diversion for him. The room is a bit bigger, which gives him plenty of space to sprawl his toys. It also has a view with trees and sky, which is more pleasant than the other room's view of the neighboring wing of the hospital. There are multiple transplants going on right now so please pray for the transplant team and particularly for the patients. Long weeks in the hospital can be discouraging, especially when you can't experience the outside world (TV only lasts for a little while).

     Around 11:00 am this morning the transplant team brought in Ethen's stem cells. The cells were in deep freeze, which they brought in the room in a container that resembled a kiln. They thawed the cells quickly in a water bath and immediately began the transplant. The transplant went in over ten minutes. Just enough time for the tylenol and benadryl (given to prevent reaction) to knock Ethen out. The transplant team stayed in the room throughout the transplant to monitor Ethen, and the nurse checked vitals for the hour following transplant. Ethen is now awake and doing well. The doctor tells us that because Ethen had such a high concentration of stem cells in his transplant that engrafting may occur more quickly than usual and we may see neutrophil recovery within 7–10 days. We hope this is the case!

     Please pray for Ethen as his white blood cell counts bottom out. Pray that he can tolerate feeds and that he has an appetite. Pray his stem cells engraft back into his bone marrow quickly and that they begin to produce white and red blood cells and platelets.