First I need to start with posting Daniel's facebook post that he put on his timeline this morning before school. It totally made me stop and cry and think about how much this all must mean to him. This is his perspective. This was the cake we had made for him on the day of his transplant. I am so happy that he is thinking this way. Healthy body, healthy mind.
Today was November 12th. Daniel's 1 year post transplant 'new' birthday. One we will always recognize and celebrate. What does the one year mark mean medically? The first year anniversary or birthday after a bone marrow transplant is celebrated as it "officially" marks a successful transplant, meaning that my body has learned to accept it's donor's cells and can now properly produce blood on it's own. The anniversary is also considered the patient's second 'first birthday', since they received new blood, new DNA and new life from their donor. Although we were having a little glitch in the system with tough news at the beginning of the week and too much uncertainty, even though I had good intentions for a very long time I was not able to pull it together and plan a 1 year celebration for Daniel. But my great and super supportive friend Ronit was hearing none of it and insisted we needed to acknowledge this triumphant milestone. No matter what, we were still at a year. With good fortune the upper school was going to be together for an assembly that day so everyone would be together. Ronit was collecting donuts for every kid in the school and I was getting a huge bouquet of balloons. a couple dozen GB packers colors and some Happy First Birthday ones thrown in for good measure. By the end of the morning I had called in a few other girlfriends that have been super supportive all year who could be there to share the joy and I am only sorry we couldn't have made it bigger for everyone that has been there for us. As the assembly came to a close the CEO of the school and friend called Daniel up and he saw Rob and I and my girlfriends come in with the balloons to acknowledge his fight and his strength. I stood in front of the school proudly and wanted to thank them all for their support. I was so overwhelmed I was told I missed the emotion of some of Daniel's favorite teachers and principle. It did not go unnoticed in my heart when I was told. Unfortunately, when I stood up with my arm around him to show my pride, he wrapped his arm around me, leaned on me and looked down (he is a half a foot taller than me) and whispered "I am so happy you did this, but you need to get me the hell out of here I am going to fall over I feel so sick. What the??? I looked at him and he looked beyond terrible. I can't believe he hadn't called me earlier to come home, but that would have totally ruined our surprise. I got so scared I didn't hear another word from the Head of the school but knew it must have been wonderful. We took some quick pictures and got him out of there within 2 minutes. He had caught a cold and it was hitting him hard. His first cold. You remember how you felt when your baby got their first cold? Well, here we go. Come on new immune system, show us what you got. It was going to happen sooner or later and docotrs are confident he has everything he needs to fight it. Let's just see. He got home and was asleep in his shoes and coat on top of his covers for several hours. I sat and worried and took his temperature every hour. Shit , I thought. Now if he got a fever I couldn't draw blood to take it to the lab. Well, we really are on our own. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and my angel Amy friend Amy rushed by some chicken soup because I was out and I wasn't leaving him alone. At this point we are working our way through the weekend and the cold seems to be subsiding. Thank goodness for that. I think I have a bit of the cold now but I will deal with it. We are hoping to get healthy and strong for our upcoming trip to Israel. Lots to look forward to. Lots to be grateful for.