BMT: Day 1

I am feeling a lot better today than I did the last few days. I still vomitted a few times and had diarrhea, but my appetite picked up a wee bit thanks to Uncle Mark who came by and spent an hour with me outside my window. He brought his lunch to try and whet my appetite ... well, Mummy managed to syringe 4ml of milk into my mouth, which was a great effort, given I refused to have even a drop of water in the last couple of days. I really enjoyed Uncle Mark's company (we watched Sesame Street together) and I was looking out for him even after he had left. I think others in the playground outside must have thought him a bit looney, given he was dancing around with his water bottle and shouting "Big Bird" from outside my window (the window is just about sound-proof so he had to shout for me to hear him).

I have an additional needle injection everyday starting from today. It's called granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF), which helps to stimulate the production of neutrophils and shortens the period of low neutrophil counts in the blood. I was rudely awaken from my afternoon nap when I felt this sharp pain in my left thigh. Daddy thought it would be a wonderful idea to jab me while I am still asleep since I sleep through my daily 5am full blood count (FBC) finger prick test. Hmmm ... this GCSF is a lot more painful than the FBC. I also had another round of IVIG which is a tranfusion I will be given weekly for the next 3 months to give me passive immunity.

My body is finally getting the nutrients it needs (I have been starving it for days) when the nutrition bag arrived this evening. I hope my appetite improves very soon so I don't have to get fed through IV so much.

Thanks for all your encouraging messages these last few days. Maria Porpor, thanks for your lovely card - I like the smiley suns.