Today is BMT Day 26: This bone marrow transplant has been an uphill battle from the get go. When one struggle resolves, another struggle presents itself. But, I definitely have seen great blessings and progress; one of which is being able to avoid dialysis and a breathing tube. I’m very grateful all the struggles and setbacks of the month haven’t happened all at once. Pain and nausea were an issue a couple weeks ago, two very typical side effects of a BMT. It’s remarkable that once Ash was admitted to the ICU for lung and kidney issues, pain and nausea have not been a problem. She’s not taking any pain or nausea medications which is pretty unheard of for a BMT patient in her situation. Because she feels thirsty and isn’t nauseated, she really wants to drink. The problem is, her stomach doesn’t want much so if she drinks too much she’ll throw it all up without any warning. Another blessing is the resolution of delirium and insomnia. She is now completely alert and sleeps very well. However, when in a deep sleep, she’ll stop breathing periodically which causes her oxygen level to drop. An MRI and CT scan of her brain were normal so the guess is her airway obstructs a bit when sleeping, causing her to stop breathing.
Even though she’s still in the ICU, I feel we couldn’t ask for much better at this point. She still has no immune system so I don't expect there will be grand improvements until we see white blood cells in her labs. Nurses and doctors continue to stay busy keeping her stable while we wait for the new marrow to engraft. The entire purpose of a BMT is for donor cells to establish a new marrow in the bones that produce blood cells and over the next year build up a strong new immune system. The first sign that a new marrow is growing is seeing white blood cells in her blood labs. This generally happens around Day 25 give or take several days. This weekend, I wonder if everyone would be willing to fast and pray for engraftment and white blood cells, which is the next big milestone needed to get Ashtyn home. Thank you for believing.
MRI
