I'd like to first off start by saying that Katlyn is okay. She is doing very well. What a day is right. We started off this morning not really knowing for sure if anything was going to happen or not. I think Johnathan and I held ourselves back because we were so scared to be let down again, which we have so many times. I think we asked everyone we saw if we were still okay. So anyway we brought Katlyn down to special procedure where she was scheduled to get her line put in. The doctor showed us what Katlyn's new line would be. I'm not sure the name of it but I know that it is a very new line. Apparently within six weeks Katlyn's tissue will grow around this little cuff inside, down the line a bit. That's great because it means things will be sealed off, so there's a lot less risk of infection. It's a lot like her other line except the lines are a lot short on the outside, which is a plus when those stubby little fingers what nothing better than to get a hold of the. I also must mention the line is also very pretty, as far as lines go. It's a double tunneled catheter and need I mention the reason I think it's so pretty is because it's purple and red. Yeah purple and red.
So the had to put Katlyn asleep so they first gave her an oral anesthetic which just relaxed her. Next we had to choose who would go in the room for Katlyn to go to sleep and John picked me because he was through it the last time and it still bothers him. I went in the room with her where they gave her a mask and she freaked out a little bit, but it was nothing like what John had described to me. I think I attribute that to the anesthesiologist. She was fantastic. She was signing Old McDonald Had a Farm to Katlyn and she fell asleep. She also kept reassuring me that everything I was seeing was perfectly normal, and then we were off to wonder what if anything would happen after the line was put in. Everyone kept coming in the room and telling us things were still a go ahead, but I really had a hard time to believe anyone. We were taking a walk because the line procedure was going to take an hour and a half and just our luck their was a code red on the 7th floor. I looked at John and I know we were thinking the same thing. Can you imagine the building getting evacuated at a time like this? Geez. The things that we have gone through to get here, it's a wonder it didn't happen. All was clear though and the code was off so we could stop holding our breathes, but just barely.
So the line was a success so the next stop was the OR. I was still waiting for someone to cancel on us or something weird to happen. We were sitting in the waiting room and the doctor that had been sick on Friday came and met with us. He was perfectly fine today and he told us that if it was any other patient he would have done the procedure, but because of Katlyn's condition, he wanted to especially careful. We let him know just how thankful we were. So he explained to us what was going to happen. I know I was still not letting myself get excited. So the came out several times throughout the procedure and it wasn't until everything was done that Johnathan and I allowed ourselves to get really excited. I mean really happy. Finally.
There was no problems or complications throughout the procedure. So the next thing we had to wonder was if there was enough cell collected. In total they took 200ml of Katlyn's bone marrow. They needed a special type of cell called CD34+. These cells are special because they can basically serve any purpose. They can transform themselves into any type, meaning they can carry and hold the ADA enzyme. Hey, I'm not a scientist. I have no idea if that made any sense, but that's how I understand it. SO the needed to collect I believe the doctor said 16 million of these cells. Well this evening they confirmed for us that things look good and they collected more than enough cell, about 44 million. YEAH!!!!!
So tonight we had to take some blood from Katlyn to see where her hemoglobin was at. She had been 14 as of Friday and since the procedure has dropped to 8.4. There was some talk about doing a blood transfusion but her doctors have decided to hold off and monitor her closely. They believe she'll come back up on her own and the risks right now outweigh the benefits. They don't think that a transfusion at this time will have any benefit. If Katlyn should drop below 7 then we would do a transfusion. But she'd not going to!!!!!! I can feel it.
So our girl is doing very well. I have a video of her walking in a very drunkenly manner. Haha!!! She insisted on walking and as stubborn as she is I know she was going to get her way. I'll post it tomorrow. For now I got to go to bed because I'm so beat. This day has been so long.....but great at the same time. So Katlyn will get 3 doses of an anti-seizure medicine just as a precaution for the chemo, which is standard. Then on Wednesday she'll get 2 rounds of very mild chemo 6 hours apart. Don't worry I will post as soon as I get a chance.
