The test to tell if the white blood cells were made by the donor marrow are still not back. They can't do the test in the lab here so they have to send it to another lab. It may take few days to get the results. The test is called a Fluorescent in Situ Hybridization or FISH test.
Eric had an elevated heart rate for while today. He didn't immediately respond to a boost of fluids so they decided to do an echocardiogram to see if they could see anything wrong. By the time they got the machine up to his room his heart rate had gone back down. They ran the test anyways and didn't find any abnormal results.
Eric is still on just a little bit of oxygen. The only time his oxygen saturation (amount in his blood) dropped was when he got mad and cried. He tends to forget to take full breaths when he is crying.
Now that we have white blood cells, (assuming they from the donor) the next big thing watch for is signs of graft versus host disease (GVHD). This is a common problem in BMT patients in which the white blood cells made from the donor's marrow attack the recipient (host). Usually the cells will aggravate the intestines. This is the same thing Eric's old cells did (and the reason we replaced them). It will be hard to tell if the cells are attacking his gut since it is already damaged.
GVHD also can be frequently seen in the skin. The host will get rashes if this happens. So this will be the primary thing we watch for. So far we have not seen anything. The doctors said GVHD is less common in young patients who get stem cells from cord blood.
-dk (via cell phone)
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