Day 1 After Transplant!

I am so grateful that there is nothing new to report. I don't often get to write that, but we are just hanging out and waiting for Princess Protection Program to be on tonight. That is a new show that is going to be on Disney tonight. Avarie has been waiting months to see it and it is finally on tonight, oh the excitement. She is doing great and not having any new problems or concerns. It is all just a big waiting game and hoping that it can all be just as boring as it is now. Unfortunately we know that it will not stay quite so boring, she will have some Graft vs. Host problems, its just a matter of how much and for how long. The problem is not her body rejecting the new marrow, that can happen, but the bigger problem is her new marrow actually rejecting her body. Since the immune fighters are made by the bone marrow, when her new bone marrow grows in it won't recognize her body and will to some degree fight it. Its just a matter of how much and for how long. Bone marrow is one of the few things that can be transplanted that your body can actually accept and vice versa. Unfortunately we had to use an unrelated donor which means she has a much greater chance of having this problem. When its related, meaning a sibling, then so much about the marrow is the same as before, so many of the DNA markers, its not so different and so the marrow and body respond to each other better. So we know we will have a problem, we're just hoping its minimal and that her new marrow will accept her body quickly. Some kids end up with Graft vs. Host Disease where their marrow never accepts their body and they have to be on immune suppressants their whole life, others its just for a short time. She will be on them for at least the next 6 months and then if her body is responding well she will be slowly weaned off of them.
I took a few picture last night of the transplant, they're not that exciting, but I wanted them to be able to document such a huge thing in here life. I will hopefully get them posted soon. Thank you all for your prayers, they were definitely answered last night. Everything went perfectly. Please keep up the prayers we have a long long road ahead of us and we are definitely going to need them.