It was a long, tough day. For once, Zevi's part was relatively easy: he got his blood drawn (went very well), got briefly examined, declared in very good health all considering, and was sent home with grandma Rita.
Alla, my dad, and I remained at the hospital for a long, hard conversation. We discussed the chemo regimen, the likely and the less likely side effects, the transplant process, life at the hospital before and after transplant, some of the details of life at home after transplant. The details (which we read before the appointment) included the mandatory fine print of side effects "rare and dangerous". We also spent a long time discussing the Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD). Right after we went over all the details, we got it repeated to us that the alternative is worse and signed the consent form.
Besides the doctor and the transplant coordinator we spoke with two social worker type folks who help with emotional support for us and some activities for Zevi. By that point, frankly, we were largely numb.
The good thing in the appointment was Zevi's condition: white blood cells down a bit, weight stable, platelets not low enough to need transfusions, they even let us skip the antibiotic this week. All of these things are slight improvements to Zev's chances, so we will take them.
Later today we also visited Doctor Kirill of Adroit Dental (www.adroitdental.com) for the mandatory oral checkup. The appointment was lightning fast and accompanied by not a pip out of Zevi who was declared oral infection free. To boot, Zevi got a few toys and walked away happy and clutching the loot to his chest.
Next: surgical consult on Thursday. Also on Thursday Zevi will get his nose swabbed to see what sort of bug could be hiding in his long-lasting runny nose. On Monday we receive both the swab results and, hopefully, final confirmation from the donor. If both are "go", then Tuesday we check in and Zevi gets his central line put in (more on that later).
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