It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks since I last wrote. The end has been in sight for days now but doctors have been reluctant to give the green light for Fabian’s discharge, so we remain on amber. He has stayed remarkably well during this time, with blood counts steadily rising and no infections or post-transplant complications. Well not exactly. Today he had been given special dispensation to go home for the day to join his grandad for his 80th birthday celebration. This was to be quite a family occasion and something he had been looking forward to, even if it meant coming back into hospital. Then the first obs this morning showed a temperature over 39C so the doctor’s rule applied – feeling rather like the untimely bad light stopping play decision of the umpires in the 5th test – that he could not go. A horrible blow which did nothing to lift his spirits. Still, by the wonders of Skype he was able to ‘join’ the celebrations nonetheless. So now we must await the result of blood cultures to determine the cause, whether bacterial or viral but I suspect it will subside in a day or so as has often been the case in the past. Spiking temperatures are normal routine following a BMT but one cannot be too careful.
So we approach the end of the 10th week here at GOSH and it has been a slog. The delay in Fabian engrafting has also put back the T cell infusion which is now scheduled for mid September but this has no bearing on the outcome of the trial. Despite adversity, we continue to thank God for his wellbeing.