We have had an interesting weekend. We are currently at Duke on the 5200 BMT floor. We arrived by MedAir from our hospital in Huntington, WV on Saturday the 13th. Trevin’s hemoglobin dropped on Friday causing him to turn pale and complain of a headache. After many sticks and finally a blood draw, it was determined he would need a transfusion. We were admitted to our local hospital. Unfortunately, they are not equipped to handle post-BMT transfusions that are complicated by antibodies. In addition, they were perplexed that his blood type changed from A- to O+. After arriving at Duke, we expected to have a transfusion and back home in a couple of days. He did not get his transfusion until Sunday morning due to the complexity of the antibodies created by his body to destroy his red blood cells. Also, we will have to stay in the Durham area for outpatient treatments for the next several weeks. They are giving him an infusion that searches and destroys the cells that are causing the problem. The infusion is given once a week for four weeks. While this is very unexpected for us, the doctors are optimistic that this was an isolated incident and we are hoping it will not happen again. This incident is not all that uncommon for post-BMT patients. This is just a small bump on the road to recovery. Martin and Brayden drove up on Saturday and are having to go home today so both can finish school before Christmas break. They will come back on Friday. Please keep Trevin and all the children who are ill in your prayers!
God Bless and Merry Christmas,
Gina