Abigail has been home for two and a half weeks now and, both clinically and via the less technical assessment of her cheekiness, is in the best health that she has experienced in a long time, likely all year. Her neutrophils are above 1 for the first time since testing began, her other blood counts are good and her marrow remains clear. Abi has amazing energy throughout the day, which is typically spent running amok throughout the house. She is particularly fond of strollers and new shirts featuring ponies (as can be seen on the left).
The last fortnight has been a good though challenging period, as we can't help but look ahead to Monday when another hospital stay begins. Both of us alternate between wishing Monday would never come and hoping that it was just here and we could get on with it. The kids seem largely oblivious to most of this, and carry on enjoying each other's company with few squabbles. They both love playing games with each other all day, which is a good thing given that we are in self-enforced isolation. This is to try and avoid any last minute illnesses and keep both girls (and us) in the best possible health before treatment begins. Abigail has been in to the clinic most days in the last week to go through a battery of tests that have checked and provided baselines for just about everything that they can measure. These have all been good so, baring any last minute onset of a major illness, the initial chemotherapy for the bone marrow transplant will begin this Monday afternoon.
Abigail will likely be in hospital for between 2-3 months this time around, and by September will be pretty knocked around by the various bits and pieces that they need to give her. Given this, it will likely be pretty rough for a while. Still, we hope that this will all be worth it, as this way she has the best chance (80%) of a long-term cure. So, fingers crossed that the transplant is the last bit in all of this and by year's end she is back to her self.
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