Bone Marrow Transplant- Day 3

Wow, has it been over a month since our last posting? We've been busy with tests, procedures, and waiting for results in preparation for Natalie's transplant. We also had a great 3 weeks at home together and did A LOT of fun things. Natalie's energy and appetite was good too.

This is day 3 since we've been admitted into the transpant unit. I'm probably counting it wrong since they do negative numbers until day of transplant and then postiive numbers after transplant. Natalie's transplant date is next Thursday, May 6. She will get some strong chemotherapy medicine leading up to that date to prepare for the infusion of her new cells on May 6.

So far, Natalie is in a really good mood, energetic, and has a healthy appetite. Eileen stopped by yesterday and commented that she has not seen Natalie this happy in a long, long time.

Natalie is in a good mood because of her curiosity and the novelty of being back in the bone marrow transplant unit. There are a lot of new rules since everything has to be completely clean and sanitized in her new room. Natalie is enjoying the sterile baths back here and the special mouthwash. She likes having sterilized water poured on her when she bathes and washes her hands. Maybe it makes her feel pampered? She also loves the fact that she no longer has to brush her teeth with a regular toothbrush since she has a special mouthwash. Boy, does she love that special mouthwash. She said it's the best thing she's ever tasted and wants to use it every time after she eats something. However, her absolute favorite part of being back in the hospital is the new room service menu they have for meals. She's been using that service a lot too. I'm learning from Natalie that kids do look at things so differently from the way adults look at things. Their view is better than ours.

We know the novelty of all this will evenutally wear off so we are enjoying the good days now. We've been told that Natalie will start feeling really yucky on May 2. She'll stop eating and probably will be in bed more until her new cells graft in and grow. We are really not looking forward to that time. Neither is Natalie. She jokes that she will be in hibernation until she feels better.

Please keep us in your prayers for the transplant to go amazingly well and for Natalie's overall health to be well. We are on the road to curing her.