BMT: Aplastic (Day +6)

Day +6 started REALLY early for us.  At 1:30am, Clark started whining, sat up, and started emeses (plural form of emesis). Thankfully this was short lived, and he fell back to sleep once we changed his sheets.

Clark had an exciting morning while playing with the Child Life Specialist. They played with puzzles and a toy car slide while sitting on a large mat on the floor. There was also a cool airplane that made flying sounds. For some reason the airplane freaked Clark out! Once he started using the “all done” sign, I decided it was best to hide the airplane in the closet. :)

Throughout the morning, I have noticed a small rash on Clark’s body that comes and goes. At first it was on his inner thighs, then his back, followed by his cheeks. One minute they will be there, the next they are gone. A rash can be a sign of GvHD, so I told the doctor once he came in the room to do his rounds.

But not this time… I was told the GvHD doesn’t usually show up until the engraftment stage (still about 2 weeks out). So the doctor isn’t worried about this rash being GvHD.  Instead, there is a chance this could be something called Peri Engraftment Syndrome (ES). It was described to me as a slight reaction to the new bone marrow. This can cause an unknown fever, rash, and occasionally inflammation of the lungs. This is usually treated with corticosteroids. Once treated, it usually lasts 1-5 days. We are not at the point of starting corticosteroids yet, because we are not sure if ES is the culprit.  More watching, more waiting…