Reading, dancing and lots of mouth swabs to help prevent mucositis (sores in mouth, throat and tummy from chemo). Lyla is a great patient and still doing well! We are loving getting to spend so much time with her. [...]

Sadly, Lyla's great grandmother passed away on Wednesday. Although only 6 weeks old, I'm so glad Lyla met her. She was so strong and held on to life to the very end, dying from natural causes. She was so kind hearted and such a fighter. I hope Lyla will be just like her. I'm going to miss you so much, grandma. [...]

We are +3 days post transplant and Lyla is doing shockingly well! We are starting to wonder if she has super powers! Every child is different but normally by day 3 they are starting to decline because the impact of chemo catches up to them. The only sign Lyla has is some nausea but after a regular dose of medication that seems to be under control now. The doctors are equally surprised and very happy with how she's doing but have warned us that we should enjoy these days while they last!
Here's a few more details about Lyla's transplant for those interested:
Transplant day - happened on Monday, July 25th. Although it's a big event it's equally very uneventful because it's just like a blood transfusion. They couriered in the donated cord blood, thawed it, rinsed it of all the preservatives and triple checked it was the correct one. We will never know who Lyla's donor is (it's completely anonymous) but we did find out the cord blood was banked in May 2013 so the little girl is just 3 years old! Thinking about who she is will forever give me such an overwhelming sense of gratitude and amazement! The doctors confirmed she could be from anywhere in the world also!
Lyla received the transplant over just 25 minutes and it went perfectly. Doctors and nurses were in her room watching Lyla to make sure there was no reaction but besides being a little flushed she was totally fine! The only side effect was she smelled like creamed corn the rest of the day which is the odor from the left over preservatives in the cord blood.[...]

This photo sums up how today went! After 8 days of chemo and receiving all new stem cells today, Lyla is happy as can be! She still has a long road ahead as we wait three weeks for the new cells to grow and her body to accept them, but if her strength so far is any sign, she's going to breeze through it and be smiling the whole way 😊[...]

It went well!! 

We will write more later :)[...]

It's Transplant day!!!
Today I'm going to dedicate this post to the little girl somewhere in the world who is saving Lyla's life....

Dear Lyla's perfect match,
I will never know who you are but I know our paths will cross someday. You could be the stranger we pass on a walk and smile and say hi to, you could be the little girl sitting next to Lyla on her first day at school, you could be the daughter of one of my friends, you could be our next door neighbor, you could be the president someday or a famous actress or a Wimbledon tennis champion. I will never know who you are but I do know that you are an angel and your parents are heroes for creating your life and saving my daughters life. I will be grateful every single day for the rest of my life. I will think of you when Lyla gets to experience the everyday joys of life that I hope you are experiencing. I will whisper thank you when Lyla can write her own name, reads her first book, rides a bike, plays in her first tennis match, gets an A on an exam, graduates highschool, gets her first job, and walks down the aisle someday. You'll forever be in Lyla's heart and have put her parent's broken hearts back together. Thank you forever and ever ❤️[...]

Lyla is all done with chemo now. She's starting to feel the effects so she's on a morphine drip to help reduce pain. It seems to be working well and keeping her pretty happy. Her eating is slowing down which is too be expected because the chemo creates sores in the mouth, throat and stomach. She's also getting more nauseous and has just started IV nutrition to ensure she keeps hydrated. The main effects of chemo are actually delayed and will mostly start next week. Overall, the doctors are very happy with how she's doing though!
Lyla is also loving all the attention and she gets so excited every time the door opens which is very often! She squeals in delight when people come and go, waves and is starting to do copy cat. She somehow learned the no head shake....But, luckily dad just taught her yes instead! Grammie Bisnett is also here so Lyla is loving reading, playing and extra cuddles!
It's rest time now until her transplant on Monday....[...]

Lyla is half way through chemo week and doing amazing! She's had 3 doses of an immune suppressant drug called ATG (it's actually made in horses) and the only reaction she had was a fever on the first day. The doctors are very impressed and we are enjoying playing lots with her! She started the first dose of two chemo drugs last night and so far no reactions. The impact of these drugs will likely hit her early next week. Good news that she will probably be feeling good through the weekend and for transplant day on Monday!
A huge thank you to everyone that's sent drawings and decorations! Her room is starting to look much more Lyla-ish!!
And I'll keep saying thanks for all the sincere notes. Lyla would likely never be able to read if it wasn't for a bone marrow transplant so I can't wait to show her this website one day and let her read all the lovely messages and words of encouragement![...]

Today is the dreaded day....
Lyla starts 8 days of immune suppressant and chemotherapy. The goal of these 8 days is to completely wipe out her immune system, kill all her mature white blood cells and kill stem cells in her bone marrow. The bone marrow is where cell growth starts and once mature they travel through your blood stream preventing infection and attacking foreign matter. Because Lyla is receiving foreign stem cells (via cord blood), we don't want her body to attack the new cells and there needs to be room in her bone marrow for the new stem cells to find a home and start growing.
The bad news is the drugs are pretry toxic, she's receiving very high dosage and the side effects are pretty bad mostly in the short term and some long term. She's going to be sick for several weeks, will lose her hair and will likely be infertile.
On the plus side, it's amazing these drugs even exist and they have been proven to work. Even in recent years the transplant chemo regimen has changed enough to dramatically improve chances of a successful stem cell transplant and lowered mortality rates as well. Success rates are near 85% now and Lyla's is even higher because she has a perfect cord blood match!
The highest risk going into this stage of her treatment is infection - viral, bacterial, and fungal. If she gets any of these it means her body can't fight them since she will have no white cells and they might get worse and can lead to serious complications. The doctors are very proactive by doing daily testing and giving antibiotics immediately if needed. Steve and I are also very careful to wash our hands a lot and stay healthy. Luckily it's summer and there are less viruses going around. Another piece of good news is that Lyla has not been exposed to a lot of viruses that sit dormant In the body and tend to make an appearance during transplant. We were amazed by this news because she a cold for 5 straight months while at day care.[...]

Lyla is finally out of surgery and doing well (currently playing with all her cords so that's a good sign!) And, everything went as planned. 

She's now going to recover the next couple days and starts chemo on Sunday. [...]