Lauryn spent all day with Naomi today.  It was great for both of them.  They did crafts, laughed, played games, laughed, and danced (and laughed).  At one point, Naomi tripped on her cape and fell… talk about my heart dropping to the floor.  I had the nurse remove her bandage to be sure it did not pull.  Fortunately, her bandage changes do not make her cry anymore because these are gentler to remove.  Even more fortunate was that the line was well-secured and did not pull at all.

The Dr. gave a good assessment for Naomi’s progress.  We discussed the little signs that we see that are encouraging hints that we are headed towards engraftment.  Yesterday, her CBC differential said “rare monocyte seen on scan.”  Today, it said “rare monocyteS seen on scan.”  The Dr. confirmed that is a good sign and that with only 100 WBCs, there are not enough yet to do an accurate differential.  But within a few days, there should be! Also, her other counts are falling less rapidly and starting to hold steady more, although she did need a transfusion today.  This is all very exciting. 

Naomi continues to not run fevers, or have any viruses show up in her samples.  We are thankful for that and ask you to keep praying to that end.  The parameters required for her to be discharged are that 1) she is fully engrafted, 2) taking meds on her own, and 3) infection-free.

This evening, the tubes to her med pumps were changed.  While the nurse took care of that, Naomi was FREE.  I remember being a bit terrified at how she might react if she lost some of her balance, or became more uncoordinated through the transplant process.  We were warned that the chemo and isolation could effect her balance and coordination skills.  I am happy to provide the following video to demonstrate that she still has her balance and her feet still are as coordinated and fast as ever…. she is unbelievably strong and brave.  Thank God.