Happy BMT Birthday!

They weren't kidding when they told us the nurses, doctors, and staff make a big deal out of your bone marrow transplant day(s).

Everyone crowded into Talitha's hospital room and sang "Happy BMT Birthday to you" and then gave her gifts and a big sign to hang in her room. (They were less rowdy than when doing the celebration for older children so they wouldn't frighten Talitha who's still skeptical about this whole living-at-the-hospital thing.)

As soon as everyone cleared out of the room, they started the infusion of freshly thawed stem cells.

It's actually pretty neat how they make a big deal of the transplant because it's a miracle how the transplanted, self-donated stem cells bring new life and new hope to patients like Talitha who would not survive without them.

Talitha handled the transplant quite well once she got past the severe nausea. She emptied her stomach down to the dry heaves a couple times before we were able to get her stabilized. The nausea culprit is a chemical called DMSO that's added to the harvested stem cells before freezing to keep the cells from forming jagged crystals that would puncture/destroy the stem cells.

Unfortunately, you can't separate that chemical out before transplant so the body has to process and excrete it through the breath and skin. (That's why her room now has a strong odor that smells like rotten cream corn.)

Our family (except Elisa who is at SUU) continued the celebration of her BMT birthday tonight with a short visit. Talitha was delighted to be able to play with her siblings for a few minutes.

It was also nice to be able to pray together as a family. We have so much to be grateful for.

Tonight we are grateful for new life however it is celebrated.