We were originally informed that her primary hepatitis tests were all negative. That was for A, B and C. But on 12/6, she had a second hepatitis test sample done and it came back positive for Hep B.  Being a form of infection spread through blood and other body fluids, the only way she would have gotten exposed would have been through a transfusion, which continues to be a risk as long as she remains transfusion-dependent.  Her physicians consulted with the Infectious Diseases physician at COH and he suggested some further testing.  Those tests were done last Thursday and we are happy to report that all those further tests came back negative for Hep B. False positives DO happen!  However, now, today along with those negative Hep B results, her Hep A results showed up positive. She has no symptoms of food poisoning or food-borne illness whatsoever, so I am banking on another false positive.  But we continue to wait for more information from COH.

A little behind-the-scenes information….. You may have seen on Naomi’s story page that I have begun to transfer her website over to a wordpress blog. I find the wordpress blog easier to publish and post photos. I also think it will be easier to convert her story to a book at the end of our journey, as I can have private notes for myself in addition to the public ones that you see, if I do decide to do that. It is a much friendlier format for authors and photographers. I am sure you have recognized that photos on here have dwindled to nothing, mostly because it took so long to format them once I uploaded them. It has not been very user friendly. You will also be able to subscribe for email notification when I update the page and will likely find it more reader-friendly. I hope that is so.

I hesitated to do this because of all the comments and love that are already here. So, I am working on transferring everything over there, including your words of encouragement and comments. I had wanted to have this accomplished by time we leave for City of Hope, but packing has taken considerably longer than I anticipated. I feel like I am moving, again!  I never have been one to pack lightly…. Anyway, her new blog will be at www.prideofnaomi.wordpress.com. And I will be double-posting this over there and begin to put future updates over there while working on transferring the older posts from here. Had I known this would be a daily journal, I probably would have blogged at wordpress from the start, but I originally hoped that we were looking at weekly or maybe monthly doctor visits, not a life-changing illness resulting in nearly daily information. Ok, rambling over!

The lioness continues to be positive and optimistic. She has started to pack her things, including her hats and knows that chemo results in hair loss. We have been discussing whether or not to shave her head before it starts to fall out or wait. I must admit that I get choked up thinking of those braids being gone. But her doctors assure me that it will all come back very quickly because of the medicine she will be on that promote hair growth. Fortunately, Naomi has always loved hats. She has some very cute ones that I made her or others sent her as gifts. Sadly, her favorite hat, an owl one that I made for her, remains missing. I think we will all be digging for it tomorrow. Good thing there are so many eyes and hands to search for it!