For those of you that know me well, you know that I’m not big on birthdays, holidays and general celebrations. Last week though, a good friend and I were talking about how Thanksgiving is probably one of the best holidays. It’s a relatively simple celebration that hasn’t been too commercialized and has no real obligations. You just surround yourself with family and friends and be thankful for what your life has brought you.

With that in mind, it was nice having Michael and Melanie join Michelle, my sister Agnes, and me here this past week so it would feel a little more like Thanksgiving. Because Michelle is still in the hospital, we weren’t able to have a traditional sit-down Thanksgiving meal. We still made it work though. We cooked up the usual dishes and brought Thanksgiving to Michelle. Michelle even surprised us by eating a little bit of turkey and mashed potatoes. That was her first meal in a couple of days, although she started IV nutrition the night before.

Michelle has been feeling a lot better the past few days. Her nausea has generally subsided and she’s not pushing her pain-pump every 6 minutes. She has been fighting a fever for a few days but today was fever-free. Unfortunately, the fever was replaced with a very annoying skin irritation that is making Michelle super itchy and driving her so crazy that she said she would rather be nauseous. So if it’s not one annoying side effect, then it’s another. I have a feeling it’s going to be like this for a while. It reminds of me of the arcade game below.

Overall though, things are going really well and we can’t complain. Being on this transplant floor truly makes you appreciate your relative health. Below are some of Michelle’s recent stats.

11/27 (Day +7): WBC 0.79 (ANC 0.54)
11/28 (Day +8): WBC 0.69 (ANC 0.50)
11/29 (Day +9): WBC 0.21 (ANC 0.08)
11/30 (Day +10): WBC 0.27 (ANC 0.05)

You’ll see that her WBCs went up and then came right back down, which is quite normal. The team expects the next rise to be more sustained and to accelerate. We hope that leads to being discharged from the hospital in the not too distant future.

I am thankful for so much and am grateful to so many people. This past Thursday, I was most thankful for two mothers out there who donated their baby’s umbilical cord to a public cord blood bank. For anyone out there who knows an expectant mother, please ask them to donate (more info here). So many parents don’t even know it’s an option. Each umbilical cord that is thrown away as “medical waste” could save someone’s life. I still need to get more educated on this process, but I am happy to help find information for any curious mothers out there.