Day +7 ~ Update

Hard to believe we're at one week post transplant. While it's been an up and down whirlwind, Gabrielle seems to be doing well. She's had several temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure spikes which are expected, as well as nasua, blood in her diaper, and now a phlegmy throat (which might be from chemo-related mucositis), but it's reassuring to know they're not uncommon for chemo/transplant patients. Gabrielle's also had several platelet transfusions to get her counts up (to prevent internal bleeding) and bag after bag of different kinds of medicines (and flushes) are being hung and dripped into her main line.

With her literally not having an immune system (white blood cells = 0 right now, which was the goal so that her body would accept, and not attack, the new blood, or vice versa), she's in a quarantined room with special/fresh air pumped into it. Everything that enters the room gets wiped down with Vyrox (stuff that kills germs), and anyone who enters must wash really well and wear a germ-free gown. There's no washroom or sink in the room, so we're getting good at coming up with step-by-step sequences for washroom breaks, snack breaks, bottle runs, and movie runs too.

One thing I'm quite proud of is how taken all the nurses are by darling Gabrielle. It really is heart warming to see the nurses enjoy working with our little daughter as much has they do. One special nurse - and I'm totally bragging here - said she's never seen a baby with such a calm, loving, and attentive presence before. This reminds me of how Trent, another I-Cell dad from Denver who blogs about his son Carter and life as well, said, "These kids aren't I-Cell kids, they're Smile-Cell kids because when they smile they make every cell in your body smile too." I didn't doubt Trent when he told me about it for the first time last November, but it's sure incredible to see it first hand.

All for now, and I'll end with a video of Amy and a nurse giving Gabrielle a bath in the transplant room.