The Gift of Life

Today was preparation day for the surgery. Not much was required except one final check-up for Aaron, who started the morning with a little cough. The doctors at SCCA weren't concerned by what they saw so they gave him the green light to donate his marrow tomorrow.

This means that at around 6:30am tomorrow with hundreds of people fasting and praying for both our little boys, Aaron will be the first one to enter the surgery center where we get to hold his hand until the anesthesia  kicks in and he falls into an induced sleep.  I hope he dreams of family and all those who love and pray for him.  Even with little risk, it is scary to think of our 4-year-old going into any surgery and we hope to have no surprises.  

After the extraction, the marrow and blood from Aaron will be processed at some level and several hours later Jordan will receive this infusion.  It should all be over by around 1 or 2pm.  And then the waiting begins.  Then we get to watch how Jordan's body responds.

Today Jordan started out with a little deeper breathing and a slightly larger stomach due to a growing liver.  The RT team increased the pressure of the air going into his lungs just a little.  This won't impact the infusion tomorrow but it does mean the virus is still moving forward.  Everyone is doing their best to keep smiling when they talk to us and to remind us to take this a day at a time; I continue to feel that we will be okay.  

For Aaron's part, he only understands that he has the "toughest" cells in his body and that he gets to give some of these to Jordan. He asked tonight if he would have any T cells left after his surgery to fight the "bad guys" in his body and we assured him he would.  He smiled and went to sleep.  

Some day in the future, Aaron will recognize that no matter what the Lord has in store for little Jordan, Aaron gave Jordan the best chance at life possible.  What a gift for both our boys.