April 26th, Transplant Day

Today in an operating room somewhere across the country, there is an unknown young man who is changing our lives forever.  He will be put under anesthesia and his stem cells will be collected from his bone marrow.  Those cells will be put on an airplane, and later tonight will be infused into Hunter's port.  Our donor doesn't know our story, and we don't know his.  What we do know is that he will forever be our hero, and his selfless act will give Hunter the chance to live a healthy, normal life.  

Someday, if the donor chooses, we might get to thank him in person. For now, we just pray that God blesses him richly for his generous act.  We are anticipating his cells to arrive this evening.  They will be counted and prepared for Hunter.  Somewhere around 2 and 3 million cells will enter his body, and they just know to go to his marrow to form the beginnings of his immune system.  This is the day of Hunter's rebirth.  His immune system will be like that of a newborn baby.  

If you are between the ages of 18 and 44 and feel called to join the registry, go to www.bethematch.com and fill out your online application.  It is free to join, or you can leave a contribution to cover the administrative costs of testing your sample from the kit they will send.  We are proudly sporting our Be the Match shirts today.

This is a day that I have dreamed of for the 15 years that I've loved Hunter.  We have watched and waited as scientists and doctors have been "on the verge of a breakthrough discovery" but nothing has been proved effective as a cure.  And today that changes!  We will have anxious weeks ahead of us, but we know without a doubt that God will be with us, just like He has before in Hunter's story.  

As a Mom, I can only imagine the number of hours that his parents have prayed for Hunter's health and his eventual cure.  He would not be here today without Mark and Jana, and I'm forever grateful for their wisdom and care to get him to this point.  God has truly blessed our family.

Hunter is still feeling pretty good.  He has some sores around the outside of his mouth that are very painful.  Food has already lost most of his taste, and nothing is sounding appetizing.  Yesterday evening we could tell he was much more tired and ready for bed then previous nights.  Getting up and around is taking a little more effort than previous days.  His liver numbers continue to trend toward the normal range, and his preventative antibiotics and antivirals have been already given today.

We ask you to pray with us that Hunter's new cells will quickly engraft.  This is a day of great joy, and the start of Hunter's life WITHOUT CGD!