Days 22 & 23

After a week of eating nothing, Natalie is showing interest in food again. She had some crackers with cream cheese yesterday and today. We are trying to not push food on her because we don't want her to get sick from the food. She is also more energetic today. She got up and sewed an outfit for her elephant, watched a little tv, and played DS with Sean for a bit.

Her counts are still at 0. She has a virus in her bladder that probably won't go away until her new cells develop. It doesn't seem to bother her much, but please pray that it doesn't grow to cause any complications for Natalie.

Despite all this, we have been told by the doctors that she is doing well. All of us are really hoping that her counts come up starting tomorrow. Please continue to keep those counts in your prayers for us.

Days 17, 18, 19, 20, & 21

I can't believe it is day 21. Natalie is doing okay. They changed one of her meds to a stronger version. Her fever broke on Sunday. She still has headaches on and off, but seems to be doing okay once they give her pain meds for the headaches.

We are hanging in there waiting for those counts to go up. Still no signs of that happening yet.

Days 14, 15 & 16

Days 14 and 15 were good. Natalie had a little headache, but was happy and playful.

Last night she came down with a fever again. Today is not so good. She's been asleep most of the day and she feels yucky. We are asking for prayers that the fever is just a result of her new cells grafting in and that her counts will start going up in the next few days. Also, please pray for the infection in her urine. It's still lingering.

Days 12 & 13

Still waiting for those counts to go up. Still at zero. Sigh.

Doctors said Natalie's infections are under control. They are certain the strep infection is not in her line, which is great news. Thanks for all your prayers about that. They said she is doing well in this phase of transplant so we want to hold on to their optimistic perspective.

Natalie has been busy with family visitors. Auntie Tracy came to visit for a couple of days and spent two nights with her. Her Gran and Gramps are here now. She is really enjoying their company.

We are going to have Sean come to the hospital to play Bingo with Natalie after school tomorrow. Hopefully, it's a good one!

Days 10 and 11

Natalie was not in a good mood yesterday. She woke up with a terrible headache so her play time with Sean did not end up too well. They played Mario Party again and lost. Sean cried. Usually, Natalie would comfort him but she was upset too.

Headache went away after they gave her some blood and a little medicine. She was happier and talkative. She ate a little and watched tv.

Natalie woke up this morning with another bad headache. It's gone now, but we are watching it closely. She's comfortably playing her DS. Also found out this morning that she has a third infection. It's showing up in her urine sample and microscopic. It doesn't seem to be bothering Natalie. For now, we are watching that closely as well. They really don't have a good medicine to treat that one so that one worries us more.

It's very gloomy in the city today. We don't like it that Natalie has so many infections going on at the same time. We're glad she is doing well in general despite the multiple infections. Just praying for them to all go away and for those counts to grow.

Day 9

Natalie is in a great mood. She is talkative, energetic, playful, and happy. It's strange to see her this way especially since she is still fighting the two infections. We don't know why she is so happy, but we are really enjoying her good attitude and hope she stays this way.

Sean and Natalie played Mario Party together at the hospital today. Sean was outside of her room, but it was fun to hear them talk and play together. They were a team so every time they won, they both would say, "We're really good at this!" When they lost, Natalie would console Sean by saying, "Don't worry Sean, it's going to be okay." It was really sweet. They both don't like losing, but Sean expresses his sadness more than Natalie when he loses. She knows that and she does try to make him happy when she can.

Please continue to pray that the C Dif and strep goes away and she doesn't have any complications. Also, need those counts to start going up!

Day 8

Natalie does have C Diff and strep. They did catch both early yesterday and started antibiotics right away so we are hoping and praying both will be gone quickly and that the strep is not in her line. Natalie asked me to post those specific prayers on her blog for her.

C Diff possbily came from taking too much antibiotics in the past. The strep is still being tested to see what strain it is. We are hoping it is not a line infection because that complicates things for Natalie.

Doctors said that both are very common for most patients here because of their low immune system. They are surprised that Natalie has never had C Diff before. Everyone is vigilantly on top of treating both so we are hoping Natalie will be better in the next 24 hours.

Natalie was energetic and talkative today. She doesn't look like she has any infections at all. She's been pretty social with her visitors. She was smiling when I walked in this afternoon and she ate a whole cup of peaches.