Playing Again (Day +6)

Aaron got out of bed twice today to play on the mat. We pulled out his trains. He played with them a little bit and wanted me to play with them while he watched. He couldn't really walk on his own. His legs are a little shaky. He will have to build back up his strength. He also spoke a little more today than the past few days. He did not require any medication to calm him down today. Today was a good day!!!

Hair falling out (Day +4)

Aaron's hair is falling out. The whole back side of his head went bald in a matter of hours. He also looks like he has a major receding hair line. We decided to cut his hair instead of letting it fall out and into his eyes and face. He is still adorable.


Aaron woke up today combative again, but we are now giving him a medication to calm him down. It breaks my heart to have my baby on all these heavy medications. However, he is much more peaceful and hopefully not in pain. He slept most of the day. The nurse said things will get worse before they get better. I think it is best that he rests for now. And Mommy is doing much better. Yesterday was tough, but I knew this wouldn't be easy.

Mommy is not tough enough (Day +3)

This is the worst day I have had with Aaron his entire life! Since the second he woke up he was screaming, thrashing, and hitting me. I had to be right by his side to prevent him from hurting himself. He managed to jerk his head back into my chest and nose. He scratched up my arms and kicked me in the legs. He hit the back of his head several times against the bed rails and his face thrashed down on the rail once. By 2:00, I broke down in tears and asked Michael to come back from work to help me. Of course, he didn't hesitate and is on his way.

I think this is being caused by a combination of his steroids and pain medication. Steroids cause "Roid Rage" and most kids get this. However, Aaron seems to get worse when they give him pain medication. We have tried 3 different kinds so far. They finally turned off the pain pump for a few minutes and Aaron fell asleep. Right now he is sleeping and I am taking a minute to dry my tears and regain strength.

Transplant (Day +1)

Today started off pretty rough. Aaron had been vomiting a lot from his chemo. We started giving him phenergan to help with the nausea. The phenergan caused dystonia. Dystonia is spasm of the head, neck, jaw, lips, tongue, and eye muscles as well as abnormal movements and postures of the limbs and the trunk. His speech was also slurred and disjointed. I was very scared when I saw this. I asked to speak to the doctor, but the doctor wouldn't come. Instead, he told the nurse to stop the phenergan. This reaction is very rare and they only see it once every two years.

Aaron finally started becoming himself again right before the transplant. This was a huge relief. The transplant went well. They hung a small bag that looked like blood (you can see it behind us in the lower picture) and let it slowly drip into his central line. This was not much more than a blood transfusion. The donors cells will slowly make their way into Aaron's bone marrow and slowly begin to multiply. We should see results in about 2 weeks.

Thank You (Day 0)

Thank you Aaron's donor. We do not know your name or where you live, but we know that you are amazing! This morning you had surgery to remove bone marrow for our son. Right now you may be in pain and recovering. We thank you for the selfless act of giving part of yourself for our son. This donation will allow our son to live a long and healthy life. May your life be blessed as you have blessed ours.

The Wolseys

Last Day of Chemo (Day -1)

Today was a better day. Aaron slept most of the morning. He is getting a medication to reduce the graft vs host disease. This medication caused him to have fevers and hives. In the afternoon and evening we played a little bit. Overall, today was a good day!

Happy New Year (Day -2)

Aaron is not getting much relief from his vomiting. Today included many episodes of vomiting, fever, rapid heart rate, rapid breathing, and lack of sleep. I am hopeful tomorrow will be better.