Entero/Rhino Bye Bye-Oh!

It's GONE! It's finally gone. Bella's nose swab tests results showed she is finally free of Entero/Rhino virus. The tests were confirmed negative today. 

It only took 7 months... 7. 

Seven months for Bella to clear the common cold. To put this in perspective, the average 1 year old will get 8-10 colds in that first year of life. Get it and get over it. But in Bella's SCID case, that respiratory virus that somehow got into Bella's air space back in Sepetember/Oct. was life threatening for her. Can you imagine... Catching a cold and having it affect you for 7 months. Bella's lungs still have healing to do but they are strong, fighting lungs. And like Bella, though they may be little, they are fierce. 

If it wasn't for the Roto virus that mysteriously popped up in her system, Bella would be going into her transplant virus free. However, having the Entero/Rhino virus gone is the better of the two to have gone. That one deals with the airway, where as the Roto is gut/tummy stuff. Also, Bella's Roto virus is a mild form. With the way she is presenting, they are saying its mild. Our doctors have told us Bella's handling this Roto virus better then kids who don't have SCID, so it's a minor Roto. Thank goodness. They will still do more virus tests and blood tests this week before chemo, so I'm believing in a miracle that she passes this Roto right on out before transplant. I'm praying that she still has a chance at being virus free entirely, before transplant. Although going from clearing a virus in 7 months to clearing one in 7 days may take a ton load of faith, I got it.

This past week, Bella's freedom from tubes and lines has been little. I'm slowly adjusting back to this way of functioning with her attached to these again. Bella needs extra fluids to help her system get over the Roto virus. They have also made her feeds half Pedialyte/half formula to help her tummy as well. They have also switched one of her meds to iv instead of oral.

Makes it a little more tricky to get Bella in her bouncer or allow her to move freely on the mat and crawl, but we'll get by.

Countdown to Day Zero (Transplant Day)

I've started adding some numbers to Bella's pics. They show the countdown to her BMT day, March 25th,2015. They start with minuses because they refer to transplant day as Day Zero, and every day from there on is a plus! (Yes, pun intended, from me.) After Day Zero they have certain days as markers, so day +100 is typically when a patient is confirmed as "well engraftd." A lot of the "+" plus days mark a lot of "Out-of-the-woods" days. 

So if you see these numbers on her pics from now on, that's the reason. :)

This Week:

We are looking forward to having a lot of fun while feeling strong and happy. Bella has more pre-BMT workup tests this week like her ECHO and more bloodwork. I'm also assuming our donor will have her big meeting with the councilor/therapist by Friday or Monday seeing as Bella's chemo begins next Tuesday. The donor will have that meeting right before Bella starts her chemo and confirms again, she agrees to donating her marrow for Bella. Once that confirmation is made by the donor and the legal parties involved, Bella begins her chemo. 

Praying for strength not only for Bella through all this but our very special donor as well. It may be 2 years before we meet and see how special she is, but I already know she's a strong woman. I feel in my heart she truely knows just what this means to us.