Today (day 29), we received some fantastic news: Ben’s chimerism test shows that his blood (specifically whole blood, T-cells & myeloid cells) are 100% donor. The donor stem cells are making new blood cells (with the donor’s DNA) – which is exactly what we want! This is a big positive milestone, and we are all pleased and relieved to hear the news. On hearing it, Ben responded ‘When can I have something to eat?’, as he is still nil-by-mouth having had an inflamed gut, however that has been improving and he will shortly start back on NG feeds at a low rate. If that goes well they will build up the rate, and hopefully he will be eating again before long.
Today we also learned his CMV count is also down for the first time, and it looks like this and the c.diff infections are now under control.
Ben certainly seems to have improved in recent days after a rough couple of weeks, he is more chatty and spending more time on his Switch and mine-crafting, even writing a Christmas list, which we take as positive signs!
Hopefully he will continue to progress well, and it won’t be too long before he is out of isolation and we can all be together under one roof.
We continue to be amazed and grateful to our anonymous donor for their life-changing gift to Ben x