Day -20: Tomorrow it begins – Don’t forget the Swab Event!

After a relaxing morning we headed out to Tsawwassen centennial beach to go for a walk with some friends. There was some confusion and we both ended up at different beaches in different cities. Oops. Sorry!

We met for some wonderful fish and chips in Steveston. Delicious!

Tomorrow we check in to the hospital. The following day Nadia will have her surgery to install her central venous catheter (Hickman line). This line will allow the doctors to draw blood, give medication, administer chemo drugs, and I think be used for the stem cell transplant. This is a very important catheter. This type of line is used when long-term intravenous access is required. Nadia will have this for months, and our job will be to keep it clean and do our best to prevent infection. This line will go straight into her jugular!

But, since Nadia’s platelets are so low, she will require a platelet transfusion before the surgery. We are very fortunate and very lucky that we have been able to avoid any transfusions so far. They want to expose Nadia to as few blood products as possible before the transplant (fewer blood products before transplant means better outcomes). Transfusions are required going forward and are unavoidable.

Really, we can count this as our first Win. With Nadia’s platelets being dangerously low (and decreasing) since August, Tara can take most of the credit for keeping Nadia safe these past months, spending almost every waking hour making sure Nadia did not experience a trauma large enough to put her over the edge. We have managed to avoid blood products so far. This is a Win. Keep them coming. 🙂

Don’t forget about the Swab Event being held in Nadia’s and Sophia’s names tomorrow! These two perfect little girls are having trouble finding matches. Could it be you? Could you be her Hero? This pdf poster has the details. Show up between 1 and 5 at t Zavieh (Burrard & Nelson).