Friday, May 23, 2008

Day +15: The Auctioneer is Here

Hey all. Just a very quick update.

According to Sarah, Gracie's white blood cell counts are up again today - WBC = 1.9, and Neutrophils = 1.5. This is great news. GROW BABY GROW!!!!

"We've got 1.9, anyone for 2.0? Can I get a 2.0?"

Gracie's doing great, but things are still very tough. She's playing more, but she definitely is still having some pain. Her pain meds are down to 0.3, but she still needs an occasional bolus in the toughest times. The also took her off of Bumex (the drug that makes her pee pee) in exchange for a drug with fewer side effects.

She's has a couple of rashes on her hands and face, likely symptoms of Graft versus Host Disease (GVHD). In a nutshell, GVHD happens when the newly transfused cells (the cord blood) recognize that Gracie's body is not the same body they came from. The cells start to attack her body as a defense mechanism.

This is normal, and all kids get GVHD to different degrees. The objective is to get it under control as best we can, and pray that the new cells accept her body. Please please please accept her body! GVHD can be severe, and it can last a long time. We just want to minimize it.

Please keep our friends Rylie and Chance in your prayers along with Gracie. These kids and there families are going through the same process alongside Gracie, and deserve all of the prayers we can give them. In fact, Rylie is just down the hall. Chance is around 70 or 75 days post transplant and he looks great. The docs are now looking for a date when Chance and his family to return to their home in North Dakota. :)

1 comment:

*Adriann* said...

Go Gracie, Rylie and Chance!!!! My prayers are with all of you! Her body just has to accept the new cells, that's all there is to it!!
Love you guys!