Day after

Firstly I would like to thank everyone for all their kind words, thoughts and prayers. It is such a blessing to have so many people caring about Seth and our family. It is truly humbling.
Yesterday went better than could be expected. Brett arrived with girls in tow around 7:45am and I immediately took her up to day surgery. The team there took her through very quickly so there was not much waiting around. Sienna was her usual smiley, happy self and had all the doctors and nurses wrapped around her fingers by the time we walked down to theatres. Once we entered the prep room the dramas began. She wrapped her arms around my neck like a vice and nobody could pry her off. She started crying and saying she had changed her mind and didn't want to do it now. To save my back and neck from bending over the bed the nurses got me a chair and I held Sienna on my lap. Then it was time for the mask and she wouldn't let them put it on her. She wanted them to do it to me so on with the happy gas I went and started giggling away in the hopes she would think it was fun. She did think it was funny as long as it stayed on me! Eventually she allowed me to put it over her face and we were doing really well until they changed the gas over. She screamed like someone was stabbing her in the heart and threw the mask across the room. I thought she was having some kind of allergic reaction but it turned out it was the dizziness that freaked her out. Eventually she settled down again and they readied her for the change in gas and talked her through by asking questions about her puppy dog. Then she was fast asleep and whisked away. I left feeling a bit shaken. I knew it would be difficult but it broke my heart to put my healthy, well, child through pain and fear. The whole procedure took about an hour and the doctors were really pleased with the amount they were able to harvest. She woke with a bit of pain which was controlled with local anaesthetic and oxycodone. She took a bit to wake up but once properly awake she was well enough to be discharged and we were back in Seth's room by about 1pm. She was showered with praise and hugs and gifts when she arrived by grandparents and her sister. Seth was a little bit tired and watched the action quietly from his bed. The report from home today is that she is talking non stop about yesterday and apart from a bit of pain is doing really well. The bandages come off tomorrow so we will see how bad the bruising is then.
The marrow arrived at the room by about 1:30 - 2pm and I was glad that Sienna was able to see it go through. It was dark red and had both girls swooning from the look of it dripping into his line. The whole thing took about half an hour to happen. There was no bad reactions, nothing dramatic happened and everything went smoothly. Seth was a little tired and just rested through the transplant. Sienna has now done her job and the rest is up to Seth. Today he has a small amount of chemo which is really only used to suppress his immune system further to prevent any reactions he may have to the marrow. It isn't enough to kill off the new cells given to him. He is doing really well at the moment and is doing a small maths lesson as I type this. He is having stomach pain and nausea which they are controlling with drugs.
What is expected to happen in the coming weeks is many temps due to the lack of immune system. They expect his counts to completely bottom out and in about 3 weeks Siennas marrow should take hold and begin to grow. When this happens, he will experience something called graft versus host disease and any number of things can happen there. This is when Seth's cells and Sienna's cells start to battle each other. Much the same as if he had an organ transplant and the body started to reject it. The immune suppression drugs will help control this reaction, but they encourage a small amount to occur as Sienna's marrow will fight any cancer cells that may be lurking. Seth will also need many transfusions as he is not making any blood or platelets. His blood group will also change to Sienna's sometime along the way as well.

                                            Seth During Radiation

                                                             Sienna Post Op

                                            Sienna and Seth after the transplant

                                                   Siennas Harvested and treated Marrow

                                                     Transplant in progress

                                                    Seth Over the excitement and attention
                                                    and just wanting some sleep

                                            Seth and Sienna spending some quality time
                                             before the months of isolation begin.