Day +2

Chloe awoke much like her old self – talking and squirming. She spent much of the morning that way, acting more and more "normal". She still has diarrhea, vomiting, a terrible diaper rash, and teething pain so we’re trying to treat a lot of extra stuff. She got a dose of blood platelets today. Platelets are what help your blood clot.

A little more trivia about transplants: Once the new cells have engrafted (taken hold), Chloe will actually have two sets of DNA – hers and the donor’s. This is called "chimerism".

Chloe began the process with blood type A+. The donor is O+. Somewhere down the line (about 6 months), Chloe will become O+. Until then, they test her blood type (here every 3 days, later a little less frequently) to determine the type and it’s compatibility with any blood products she might get. So if some platelets are ordered, the lab will take some of Chloe’s blood from that morning and combine it with the platelets to see if there’s a reaction. If there is, they’ll try another batch instead.

We’ve had trouble today with Chloe’s blood pressure being high. They thought it might be from too much fluids but the data doesn’t back that up. We keep taking it and hoping it will remedy itself. If not, she’ll have to go on some blood pressure medication.

Dennis went home tonight to go back to work on Monday. So it’s back to Chloe and I, hopefully things will go smoothly and we’ll get into a routine soon.