Monthly Archives: April 2017

Day +265 Post Bone Marrow Transplant

Day +265: Thankfully, I made my trip for the weekend while Jason held down the fort. It turns out he and one of our girls had strep throat and Kiira had an ear infection, possible ruptured ear drum, and her cultured wound came back infected. Strep A hit them all and with Kiira chewing on her fingers, touching her ears and neck, it’s no wonder the strep spread to other parts of her body. Thank goodness for antibiotics though, because they all feel much better and hopefully we got Kiira’s infections before they get out of control. She is more energetic and even enjoyed the outdoors tonight. Love seeing that smiley face again!


Day +259 Post Bone Marrow Transplant

Day +259: To the person in front of me at Starbucks, thank you for leaving a gift card specifically for Kiira! She loves to go with me, even if she isn’t feeling well. She has had a fever on and off, a cold, thrush from the steroids, an entire palm missing skin, a large head wound, and other wounds that are possibly infected, all of which probably contributed to her white blood cell count skyrocketing this week. She missed our entire Easter celebration and we laid low all week trying to remove any cause for more injury and allow her time to heal. We had so much fun last week, meeting up with friends, playing hard, and her sisters were off for spring break, but the activity took its toll. However, there is good news too! Kiira’s labs show the steroids are eliminating the antibodies causing her anemia and the Epstein Barr virus counts are lower.

Tomorrow I head out on a 4-day trip and I hate to leave Kiira when she is feeling so miserable. Plus Jason has been pretty sick all week, but I’m praying they feel better tomorrow so that they can get through the weekend in better spirits.


Day +247 Post Bone Marrow Transplant

Day +247: Kiira has accomplished a new milestone–a forward roll! She is so proud of herself and so are we! Though she has a couple of skin tears on her forehead from her attempts over the last week, thankfully her hair protects the top of her head.

To follow up on our last post, more tests came back indicating that Kiira does have hemolytic anemia again (antibodies are attacking her red blood cells), as well as the Epstein Barr Virus. We resumed steroid treatment and will check her levels again in a week. The first year after a bone marrow transplant can be full of ups and downs. We knew this going in but having to go through it twice, it’s been nearly 2 years of it now and while I almost feel immune to any less-favorable news, I know it’s more likely just suppressed. However, I still don’t regret the BMT and have faith she will overcome all of these “side effects” of having a lowered immune system. Besides, she is happy and is deemed our family comedian; she certainly doesn’t let any of this “stuff” take her down. So how can we not be filled with gratitude for her beautiful presence in our lives?


Day +243 Post Bone Marrow Transplant

Day +243: Kiira had labs today and though they’re ok for now, they seem to indicate she might still have antibodies attacking her red blood cells because her counts changed to abnormal levels since stopping steroids last week. We aren’t doing anything at this point, but I’m hoping she stabilizes on her own in the next week so we don’t have to start another round of steroids.

Kiira had a busy week at the park, gymnastics, first time at our church in nearly 2 years, and just being so fun! We’ve had a couple of injuries but I’m letting Kiira play, climb, slide, run like a regular kid and every toddler falls. She is healing quickly still and we have no need for pain meds and no infections. I can’t believe how much joy she brings to our lives!

Remember, if you can join us, come out on May 18th for a fun night of prizes, including SF Giants tickets, floor seats to Sacramento Kings next season, Santa Cruz Boardwalk tickets, local businesses, and more! Event link is in the comments.