Day 2+ and counting. Daleks, dogs, and mice.

There was a huge buildup to the transplant on Friday and it seemed like we were set for a big day. Another view was that it would be a huge anticlimax. Being the eternal optimist I assumed it would be a huge anticlimax. In the end it was a lot more stressful than I had imagined. The day was split in two. At about 11am the room started getting crowded and more and more people started milling around. In the hall outside Ciara's room, a man turned up with an expensive looking machine that defrosts the stem cells. A little later he wheeled in something that looked like a quadraplegic Dalek. This was the cryogenic cylinder that held Ciara's stem cells, stored at minus 130 degrees.

Once defrosted they were administered intravenously into one of her freddies. The cell solution was very cold - in the past patients would suffer from frostbite - and Ciara screamed for the hour it took to administer the first batch, 'One Of Our Dinosaurs is Missing' just didn't distract her enough. She started feeling sick immediately but didn't actually vomit. After the hour was up she tried to rest but was feeling so sick that she couldn't sleep.

The next session started around 4pm and was a repeat of the first session except her movie of choice was Jurassic Park III. The running and screaming on the movie adding a unique element to the process. Again afterwards she felt very sick and looked absolutely exhausted, her big blue eyes looking very dark and tired.

After the hustle and bustle of the transplant, in the evening we felt a bit abandoned. Being the weekend the staff level was reduced, so the Bone Marrow Transplant unit only had one nurse on. The seems a bit damn stupid considering the situation. It would often take 10-15mins for someone to respond to the Call button if the nurse was on a break or dealing with another patient. Not the nurses fault of course as I'm sure they didn't plan the roster or arrange funding for staff.

Since then she hasn't really eaten anything and her mouth is getting very dry and sore. She can't keep anything down, including water, so she is relying on intravenous fluids and NG (naso-gastric tube) feeds. She is pretty quiet at the moment but does have giggly moments. She sang along to Paddington Bear's version of Singing in the Rain. No signs of VOD yet, she has her abdomen measured daily and a careful eye is kept on her fluid throughput and weight. All is normal.

After all that happened on Friday, what I needed most of all was to find out that our house had become overun with mice, the old washing machine wasn't taken away and the next door's Staffordshire terrier was roaming around our garden. Anne-Marie had gone to the house to pick up the cat, and was confronted by a large mouse in our hallway - stupid cat!. I went down with Kevin with murder on my mind and when we got into the house we were expecting bolshy looking vermin staring at us. But the only evidence we found was one mouse poo behind the loo. The house is now currently riddled with poison-baited traps so that should keep the bastards busy for a while.

After aranging to get the washing machine removed - which happened about an hour or so later - next up was the dog. While there was currently no dog in the garden, there was a gap in the fence, dog crap on the lawn, and a few of Ciara's toys had been chewed. After fixing the fence with Kevin, I went around next door to tell them I was off down the Garda station to arange for their dog to be taken away. "I'm currently LIVING in hospital with my daughter, who, as you may have noticed, has cancer. Can you tell me why I've had to leave her to drive down here to deal with your dog?". After about 10 minutes of arguing, and in the spirit of neighbourlyness, I gave him another chance, telling him if I see that dog trying to get through the fence again, even jumping up against it, I won't be coming round to talk to him, I would call the Garda and county dog warden and have it removed. Sorry to any dog lovers out there but tough, its a controlled dog and a known dangerous breed, however fat and friendly it seems. Our other neighbours have agreed to give me a shout if they see it trying to get through.

So today I'm spending as much time with Ciara as possible after being dragged away yesterday. Kevin and Anne-Marie are down at the moment and have sorted us out with lunch. Of course they can't come in to see Ciara and we asked her if it would make her sad to see them at the window if she couldn't speak to them. She said it would so we will wait until she can see them properly. She's asleep now, Yvonne is off having lunch and I've left my book at Ronald McDonald House! Thank God for this Blackberry.