"Muskrat, muskrat candlelight… Doin' the town and doin' it right "

Posted Aug 25, 2009 9:00pm
(How did I forget that Muskrat Love was a song? Thanks Melissa!)

Happy day today! Sarai has her cord blood back and is a happy camper!

Our day was off to a rough start. The GPS didn’t work because it had been left on in the car all night. We weren’t sure we’d remember the way to the hospital, but we thought we could figure it out. As Adam pulled the rental car (it’s a Jeep Liberty) out of the driveway, he backed into a HUGE ditch in front of Cindy and Justin’s house. If the jeep didn’t have 4 wheel drive, I’m pretty sure it’d still be stuck there. After we finally got out of the driveway, we made every wrong turn possible, going through a police checkpoint twice and even getting on the highway in the wrong direction. It’s just another example of God’s miracles that we made it to the hospital on time.

The doctors and nurses at the hospital were all wonderful, exceptional in fact. The infusion went well, it was quick, and Sarai was hardly fussy at all. They were dipping her pacifier into a sugar water that the nurse said acts like a narcotic for infants. Adam wanted to bring some home with us, it worked like a charm. It’s funny. They told us that the chemical used when the cord blood cells are frozen, DMSO, would make Sarai’s breath smell like corn. They weren’t kidding! It was almost instantaneous. They said our whole room will smell like corn tonight, and this will last about 24 hours. Ugh. I miss her baby smell already. And I know she’s sick of the “corn breath” jokes.

We will stay in touch with the doctor down here through e-mail. She’ll want to see her either when Sarai is 6 months old, or at about a year for a second infusion. We asked today what results they have seen with cord blood infusions and PVL. They told us that they have seen myelin regeneration in the brain, and that the earlier the infusion the better result. Very encouraging news for us!

Sarai was a huge hit today, everyone loved her! She was weighed before the infusion and is up to 6 lbs! Yikes!

Tomorrow she has a “special” MRI and we’ll meet with their pediatric neurologist. The MRI that they will do will tell us more about the damage to her brain than a normal MRI will, but we won’t know the results for about a month or so. They are the only people doing this kind of MRI in the country.

We had a great day today! I’m feeling so excited! Like I’m on the cutting edge of science in this field! I still can’t believe I’m here or that they accepted us into this study. We asked today how people find out about the infusions and the research they’re doing at Duke, and it’s basically by word of mouth. They haven’t advertised or published much because they aren’t sure of the results yet. I just can’t believe our luck. We met a woman and her son today, also getting an infusion. Her son has cerebral palsy, and he’s 11. They banked his cord blood 11 years ago and are just realizing they could use it now. It’s just amazing what they can do.

Hail Mary’s!