One day when you are older, and able to understand, we will tell you all about this transplant that Gabrielle is going through. We are so relieved that you are both happy at home. You love playing all the fun games with Elena and she manages to keep you busy all day long! When I'm not at the hospital with Gabrielle, I get to come home and be with you. You two are the best medicine and keep me laughing and smiling, and keep us so crazy busy we have no time to be sad!
By the early morning, while we are all fast asleep, Gabrielle will have finished her last round of chemotherapy. She is amazing and continues to teach us so many important lessons about life that I never would have otherwise learned had it not been for her. Every day, I am thankful that we have her in our lives.
Tomorrow is a really big day for us and an even bigger day for Gabrielle.
At 11 am tomorrow your sister will undergo a stem cell transplant. Her little body has been undergoing all the preparatory chemotherapy that is working to completely destroy her bone marrow. It has worked well because most of her counts are all ready down to 0. Early tomorrow morning she will go into isolation and will stay there until her new cells start to grow and it becomes safe for her to fight off any infections from bacteria or viruses. The next couple of weeks will be very stressful as we try to protect her body from germs and wait for her counts to come up.
Gabrielle has re-defined for our family what the words 'strength' and 'courage' mean. Our perspective has been completely changed and we will always have Gabrielle to thank for that. Gabrielle has a lot of battle left to go. Every single, itty bitty ounce of me prays that it continues to go as well as it has thus far.
March 23rd will become Gabrielle's second birthday, the day her body is given a second chance, a new life, and we will celebrate this day in our family for the rest of our lives.
What a lucky family we are to have her. You two boys have the strongest sister in the world.
Love,
Mom
Love that you wrote this! Big day tomorrow, sending you all lots of love and positive thoughts.
ReplyDeleteLove Julie, Scott, Kendall & Luke
Praying for you today baby Gabrielle ... envisioning how well it is all going to work out.
ReplyDeleteLove you all,
Tara
Today my Nana Maud would have been 100 years old so it's a really good sign to me that this will become Gabrielle's second birthday. My Nan was a very special soul, just like Gabrielle, and I'm positive all of her magic and good karma are directed at your baby girl today. Lots of love,
ReplyDeletePhaedra