8/25/05 - HANNAH'S RESULTS ARE IN.....THE BONE MARROW HAS TAKEN!!!!!!!! WE JUST RECEIVED THE MOST INCREDIBLE NEWS!!! Hannah's blood test taken 4 weeks ago has CONFIRMED what we all have been praying for. Hannah has MORE THAN 90% DONOR CELLS. This means that the donor bone marrow has taken over and Hannah's body is accepting it. The only thing holding Hannah back from returning home is her G-Tube. Once she is able to tolerate the feeds she will be discharged from the hospital. That will be within the next 2 weeks. HANNAH, YOUR LONG & EMOTIONAL BATTLE IS OVER!!! YOUR UNWAVERYING STRENGTH & COURAGE has seen you through this difficult time. With the support of your mommy, daddy, and the rest of your family you have WON!! We can't wait to see you home again.

8/23/05 - Hannah has COMPLETED her surgery today with NO COMPLICATIONS. She now has her G-tube (feeding tube into her stomach) in place. Liquids will be gradually introduced to her via the G-Tube until she is able to tolerate larger amounts. She will have the tube in until she is eating enough on her own. Hannah returned from surgery with a NG tube also in place, it's a tube that goes through her nose and into her stomach. It will be in temporarily (12-24 hours) until the G-Tube is ready to use. Hannah had some trouble adjusting to it and was quite upset with the tube irritating her nose. She has already tried to pull it out. It is VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. HANG IN THERE HANNAH!!! YOU ARE DOING GREAT!!! JUST A FEW MORE STEPS AND YOU'LL BE HOME!!!

8/18/05 - HANNAH'S PROGRESS HAS BEEN TREMENDOUS THIS PAST WEEK. Hannah now attends physiotherapy 3 times a week for one hour in the hospital gym. She is even starting to walk again ON HER OWN. Hannah is full of life & enjoys her days doing crafts and watching tv. Hannah's energy level has been increasing daily. Although we will not know the results of last weeks blood test for another 2-3 weeks Hannah's progress has everyone LEANING TOWARDS the HOPE that Hannah HAS taken to the donor bone marrow. The exact percentages will not be known until the results come back. Hannah's blood counts have all been rising and have exceeded the "DANGER ZONE". The only drawback is that Hannah has not been eating well and the fear that she may loose too much weight if sent home has brought the doctors to the decision of inserting a G-Tube (feeding tube) into Hannah's stomach. She will have her surgery on Tuesday, August 23. This tube will allow Hannah to be given a meal supplement above anything she eats or drinks orally and will ensure that she does not loose any weight. The tube will also be used to give Hannah her oral medication that she has trouble taking. This will help Hannah to gain some extra strength and will speed her recovery process. Hannah will be tube fed a few times a day (schedule yet to be determined). If stable Hannah will go home with the G-Tube and it will remain in TEMPORARILY until she is eating well. (Maybe up to 6 months). THE GREAT NEWS IS HANNAH MAY BE ABLE TO GO HOME AS EARLY AS 3 DAYS AFTER SURGERY. If Hannah continues to progress the way she has been it looks like Hannah will be REUNITED with her family in the next 2 weeks. It has been a LONG, LONG 6 1/2 MONTHS. But it's ALMOST OVER!!!!!!!!!!! WAY TO GO HANNAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8/8/05 - Hannah had a ROUGH night and an OFF day today. She was complaining of a lot of pain due to a bad skin rash. Her skin breakdown is all the side effects from the chemotherapy, very RAW in places, especially her lips & bum. Hannah had a CAT scan today to determine if the sinus infection she had was improving. IF so, she will be taken off her antifungal medication. Hannah ate small amounts today but threw up a few times. She had her physiotherapy today for about 1/2 an hour. It consited of playing on the mat and doing some small excercises. She is also encouraged to try walking BUT requires A LOT of support. Her muscles have become very weak from being BEDRIDDEN for so long. Hannah has had a slightly high blood pressure, a side effect of the antirejection medication. She is taking meds to control that. She is also taking some medication to help with her loose bowel movements & vomitting. Hannah has not required ANY blood transfusions since last MONDAY, HOORAY!! Her hemoglobin and white blood cells remain stable BUT for some reason her poly's have dropped from 0.65 to 0.44 today. Her poly's had to remain above 0.5 for three days in order for her to go into the stepdown room, which they did yesterday. That allowed an extra bed to be brought into the room so mommy or daddy could sleep in the room with her. Unfortunately, if her poly's REMAIN LOW or DROP at all Hannah MAY have to return to her ISOLATION room. TOMORROW IS A VERY IMPORTANT DAY!! Hannah is having her SPECIAL BLOOD TEST which will determine the percentage of DONOR bone marrow. Anything above 90% donor & below 10% Hannah is GREAT (or close to that). Unfortunately, it takes 4WEEKS TO GET THE RESULTS. We can only pray that the numbers come out the way we expect. LET'S HOPE TOMORROW IS A BETTER DAY!

8/6/05 -SORRY FOR THE DELAY!!!! Hannah has been doing AMAZING the past week. She has started eating small amounts of food and KEEPING IT DOWN! She spends the majority of her day awake and is BUSY doing activities. She is keeping mommy and daddy on their toes. Hannah remains in her isolation room BUT NOT FOR MUCH LONGER. Her blood counts have been rising SLOWLY but have now reached the MAGIC number. If they stay consistent for the next 2 days she could get out of the isolation room and into the step down room (one step closer to going home). HANNAH HAS MADE TREMENDOUS PROGRESS!! She has started her PHYSIOTHERAPY. She is able to get up out of her bed and walk a few steps on her own. Pretty good since she has spend an ENTIRE MONTH in bed. She also does some exercises kicking and throwing a ball on a floor mat. By next week Hannah should be ready to have her LONG AWAITED blood test. This will determine if the bone marrow transplant was successful and the bone marrow in her body is 100% the donors or if there is any of her own remaining. WAY TO GO HANNAH!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!