Abundant Gratitude

Wow. Here it is. The most meaningful Thanksgiving of my life thus far. My heart bursts with gratitude that this hell we have toured, this valley of shadow we've traversed has opened up to such a glorious mountain top.

Our girl lives! She thrives.

I'm grateful, so grateful.

Thank you for sharing this journey with us, for sending comforting and supportive emails and comments, for lifting us up, for visiting, for holding us as we cried, for rallying the troops, for bringing food, for grocery shopping, for sending money, for encouraging me to write when I've been silent---thank you for loving us.

I'm grateful for my rock of a husband who is the strongest man I know. Ever present, ever nurturing. What a lucky, lucky woman I am.

I'm grateful for SCCA, for Seattle Children's Hospital and all of the wonderful people who work there, for transplant technology, for modern medicine, for living in Seattle where we had access to world class health care, for chemotherapy (and I NEVER thought I'd say that), for very, very smart people.

And mostly, I am grateful, so deeply thankful for an anonymous woman who gave of her very genetic substance to an unknown baby girl in the knowledge that she could possibly save a life.

I'm grateful for her social conscience that had her sign up for the registry, for her sense of responsibility that had her step forward when identified as a match, and for her tenacity to follow through with a procedure that wasn't very pleasant--all in the spirit of possibly being able to make a difference.

My heart catches every time I think of it; the magnitude of her gift is so overwhelming.


Yippee! This crazy existence we call Life is such a ride--and it is far from over yet. But at this scenic overlook we've paused at to catch our breath and stretch our legs it's looking pretty damn gorgeous.

E ticket rides don't have nothin' on this.

Not GVHD!

Doctor check-in today gave us the good news that Zoe's rash was not GVHD. Its responsiveness (even though it took several days) to the Benadryl indicates that the rash was likely a delayed reaction to something--some medication probably--having to do with her G Tube surgery.

Hoo-ray!

Also in the Good News Department, Zoe's liver enzymes were normal for the first time since her transplant.

Yay!

She fell asleep on the couch tonight at 5pm, which means she'll likely be up at 3am.

Boo!

But I'm not the one who is on Zoe duty tomorrow morning--

Yipee! :-)




Look, Ma-- No Tube!

Rash?

Haven't posted an update about the rash because I don't really know what to say about it. It's diminished some--actually more than some, but she still scratches herself quite a bit. We'll know more on Wednesday when we go in for her regularly scheduled check-up.

Other than that, Zoe's doing well and pretty well recovered from the surgery. Tonight was a two barfer, so the bedding and jammies had to be changed twice, but in general it seems like maybe she's barfing less than with the NG tube.

I learned that Vita-Mix will sell discounted demo models (lightly used motor, new pitcher, full seven year warranty) to people with medical conditions that would benefit from the use of their blenders. G Tubes definitely apply.

Keep forgetting to take pictures of her without all the nasty tape on her face now that the NG tube's gone--will post some as soon as I coordinate memory with camera and kid. It's a challenging proposition as my brain just doesn't seem to want to do higher functioning these days.

In related news....what was I saying?