Day +100: This day is so significant in the BMT world. It marks the earliest possible day you can go home and we got the final word that Kiira can go home!
With that said, we are wasting no time and packing like maniacs to leave tomorrow. We can no longer take our scenic southern route, because Kiira needs to be back home to see a doctor as soon as we get back in town. We did not get the engraftment numbers back yet (tells us how much is her cells vs the donor’s), but we know she has a very good T-cell count and no B cells because of the medication she took to get rid of the Epstein-Barr Virus. It will take around 6 months for those cells to return. Both T and B cells are a vital part of your immune system, so we still have to keep Kiira safe from germs.
Though our journey here is done, at home she will still go in for weekly labs and doctor visits and she will be on an immunosuppressant that will keep us from taking her to gatherings with kids and large crowds, including things like church and even big family gatherings at holidays. While that is disheartening, Kiira’s health, especially in the midst of flu season (flu has a high risk of death in immunocompromised people), is of utmost importance to us and we are so beyond blessed to be able to go home at day 100. We will come back to Minnesota for a week in early January to do another biopsy and round of tests.
We can’t say enough good things about the doctors and nurses at the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital. They took care of Kiira like she was their own and we are so happy we came here to get her treated. We continue to pray that her donor cells are growing and improving her skin every day!
