Day +6

Wow! While nobody asked in the comments section of the blog, everyone was obviously concerned about the allergy! I've been getting many questions of concern.  I'm sorry to have worried you all so!

It was a fairly severe allergy in the sense that she continued to react more quickly and more severely with each dose of what ended up being one of her immuno-suppressants (the Ciclosporin). So now the doctors have replaced that with a similar-acting drug called Tacrolimus and she continues to get the immuno-suppressant Mycophenolic acid (MMF).

She had hives (non-raised) each time and she was just soooo itchy.  We would give her benadryl in increasingly larger doses and earlier and earlier in the process of the three hour dose administration.  Poor girl.  Like I said yesterday, she really never complained.  She was always trying to sleep, (cause it was given to her at night or during the morning when she was still trying to sleep) but she never complained.  Her arms would drop as she would fall asleep and then she'd thrash and rub her face with the backs of her hands and then they'd slowly fall as she fell asleep and then she'd thrash and rube her face.  Over and over and over again.  I felt horrible for her.

Her pain continues but it really is minimal.  We are only giving her dilaudid twice a day and it is a very very small dose.

She is making significant headway with standing and walking (as long as she has my hands for leverage).  She gets tired easily so you can't make it too much "work."  But we were playing tonight with her standing on my lower stomach and leaning back and forward and side to side.  She easily adjusts her weight from foot to foot and from hand to hand as she holds onto my fingers.  She squeals in delight as we do it.  Plus, she is doing better and better at lifting her foot to re-place it into a better position for standing. 

She still doesn't roll, crawl, stand up (from sitting to standing by pulling on something other than me), or cruise, but she is making GREAT strides.  I anticipate she will skip crawling and am just happy with whatever progress she decides and is able to make.  When this transplant hospitalization is over, I'm sure she will just amaze us with progress.