2 years post Bone Marrow Transplant & update on eyesight

Well it is almost 2 years since Harrison had his first transplant done and things have developed Slowly but hey, they are still developing.

The latest report from blood work done says this :
" I am delighted to say that Harrison has normal IgG, M & A but the IgE is still elevated. His Ig subclasses are normal and he has normal blood counts. His lymphocyte count is 1.3 and has a low B cell count and low NK cells. He has a good level of antibody response to his killed vaccines that were given (the 2, 4 and 6 month old immunisations) .
Harrison does not have complete immune recovery - which is normal in a patient who did not receive(pre BMT) conditioning. "

Basically Harrison was well enough that we tested the waters with him having the first three rounds of immunisations that all other kids have - these were successful and he has shown that he now has antibodies that have grown from this. We yesterday gave him the Chickenpox vaccine - which in itself would normally be ok, but because Harrison's still has very low NK white blood cells, he may not respond to the vaccine - or worse still could get chicken pox. If this occurs he will go to hospital for a course of antibiotics and anti chickenpox antibody blood transfusion.

It is a risky move, but in light of the nasty strains of chickenpox that can be out there it is better to try to give him some immunity by vaccinating him, than by not. So we wait and see how this vaccine goes. Hopefully - and I am crossing all of my fingers, he has a good outcome and we don't see him get chicken pox. Time will tell and I will keep the blog updated re this.

Other than than he is well, talkative and very cheeky. His eyesight is deteriorating - well at least I feel it is. And we have reviews coming up with neurology and the eye doctors. We are actively working with Vision Australia now to help Harrison to learn braille - we even have a braille writer to play with :)

He seems to love the bright coloured tatrapoint brailler. I have a correspondence course to learn braille too.. But I will be buggered if I can learn it by touch - lucky I have eyesight and can see what each of the dots mean, so it will be easy for me to learn and then teach Harrison braille. We will start with a cane soon to get him used to the idea of that also.

It is heart breaking to watch him fall over things. He dropped his dummy the other day - right in front of himself , and when he bent to pick it up - he could not find it . I had to point it out to him. He seems so normal though in every other way - ad so despite the eyesight and Retinitis pigmentosa we are very lucky.

Next blog updates on chicken pox and lots of photos - as FINALLY i can upload them again :)