Battle Hymns of a Hot Mess Mom

Shortly after eating breakfast both children raced out of the house to be with their friends. “Love you!” As I hear the garage door close. I’m left to Google. The reality of transplant is starting to settle in.

What are the risks?

• Graft-versus-host disease: This serious complication happens when the person’s body attacks the transplant. 
• Blood count issues: Following a transplant, a person may become anemic. They may also develop neutropenia, which is when they have too few white blood cells, increasing their risk for infection.
• Organ damage: A person may develop sinusoidal obstruction syndrome. This means veins in the liver have blockages, causing organ damage.
• Infection: A person may develop an infection after a transplant. Pneumonia is one of the most common.
• Graft failure or rejection: This means that the transplant does not work. It causes an infection-like reaction that can make a person very ill.
• Death: Rarely, the bone marrow transplant itself may be fatal, such as in the case of a severe infection.

Risks of not doing this – cancer returning until the chemotherapy no longer works then death. This is good Saturday morning thoughts. Bottom line: Transplant can improve a person’s outlook and reduce their chances of relapse. And ultimately that’s what I am looking for – more time.

I finally met Baby L today – she is fantastically beautiful. She started to close her eyes and drift to sleep in my arms and I was hit with a wave of emotion. I started to cry. I remember holding both children like this and watching them drift to sleep. It was incredibly exhausting but it was everything for me.

I will be missing Halloween with the children and potentially Thanksgiving but missing one for so many many more holidays is worth it. So tonight we’re going to do “Thanksgiving in October”. Honey Ham (Thank you Costco for bringing that back), Corn Casserole, Green Bean Casserole, Cranberry Sauce and Stuffing! And we’re going to do pumpkins tonight – I will be painting mine.

We’re starting our “Thanksgiving” dinner – then pumpkins. I’m anxious. As I scrolled through social media another case of AML this time in a 23 yo med student. Am I just seeing it more and more or do I just obsess on it now?

Apparently today is Canada’s Thanksgiving hahaha. Did not know but our family celebrated Thanksgiving today! And it was YUM.

My pumpkin not only has a black widow crawling on him but he has jaundice hahaha.