Day -1 Almost Complete

Good Evening,

Xander has completed the conditioning treatment for the transplant. He is in good spirits and happy to be off the chemo drugs. He is also done with the little bunnies.... they have hopped away now.

We have met a lot of wonderful people here at Mott and we have an outstanding team of Docs.

One of the main issues so far is getting Xan to eat - he keeps saying that he is not hungry, although we know that if he was under normal circumstances, he would be eating like a horse. We will be logging all of his intake now, just to make sure his nutrition is good. He cannot eat anything raw and cannot have any probiotics. He prefers salty foods at this time and strong food smells make him nauseated. There is a very delicate balance that must be achieved and monitored during this time. Sandy is the BMT nutritionist and is awesome to work with.

Tomorrow is Transplant Day - Also known as Day 0.

The Docs have given us a heads up that it is mostly anti-climatic and lasts about 1/2 hour. They say that the preservative used in the cord blood smells like creamed corn and our room will probably smell that way for a day or two. For those of you who don't know - the transplant is just like a blood transfusion.

Then we wait and help Xan through the "dog days of transplant."

We have received so many compliments on his room - a big shout out to all of you who made that possible. The art work gets a LOT of attention! I even have a request from the Child Life Center (people who keep the kids entertained) to teach them how to make window stars.

Just a quick note in the picture.... the chair is yellow and the light in the background is yellow - but Xan is NOT yellow (yay!).

Your prayers are our strength.

Peace and Love to you all.