DAY+365 ~ ONE YEAR POST BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT
Dear friends,
Today marks another very important milestone in Evan's recovery. 525600 minutes ago, we were indeed taking Evan's situation one minute at a time. We were so relieved that Evan was about to receive his life saving transplant while he was still infection free and feeling stronger and more alert than he had been in the days leading up to transplant. As Evan's nurse hung the bag of marrow, looking much like a blood transfusion, we felt Evan's future was literally hanging on a hook. What we did not know was if this hook would be strong enough to hold him or if it would let him fall into a sea of dark murky water. There was no way to know, no turning back and no choice in the matter. We focused on how fortunate Evan was to have a donor; it was unthinkable to imagine the situation if he hadn't. We also reminded ourselves about how amazingly strong Evan had been throughout this ordeal. These thoughts gave us peace.
I cannot imagine anything more stressful on a marriage than having a child with an illness that threatens his life. The discussions and decisions that had to take place were unbearably difficult. Tim, thank you for being such a great husband and father. Thank you for having a clear head when I could not.
Evan has decided he would like to have pizza for supper and go see the movie Up! so this is what we will be doing.
I am marking the day by decorating the house and writing letters of appreciation to our wonderful nurses and doctors and most importantly, to Evan's beautiful donor.
Evan continues to feel great and he's growing right before our eyes. Lab results from Wednesday were fantastic with his hemoglobin reaching an all time high of 112!
We continue with monthly labs through September and then we'll probably settle into an every four month routine. Evan will be restarting his immunizations with the two month old baby vaccines in two months time and will follow the regular Ontario vaccination schedule until he is up to date again.
Thank you for continuing to follow Evan on his road to recovery and thank you to all who are registered as a bone marrow donor, ready and willing to save a life.
Love,
Nicole
