Zoe had a great day at clinic — or is having, I should say. We’re still here, getting the last of her Monday infusions.

WBC count was at 2.4, so she did get GCSF again, but as I mentioned previously it seems a matter of routine now, not concern. No one is worried that she will not eventually grow her own WBC more quickly.

The big news of the day is that we’re going to try to get off of TPN. Zoe has been eating more voraciously these past few days, particularly in the evening as the effects of the TPN wane over the course of the day.

We’ll be really pushing to get her eating as much as possible so that our trial run is successful, and she does not need to return to it (ever!).

In addition we’re moving to oral steroid (hydrocortisone), which the doctor indicated may accelerate her loss of cheeks and such a little more. We have the option of trying her off of the Zofran as well, which we’ll be taking. If she has increased spit-ups and nausea, we can always go back.

Next week if all goes well we can move her to oral Tacrolimus, which would have her completely off of IV meds, setting us up to get the lines out and a porta-cath in. That would mean real baths and even some pool action, which would be exciting indeed.

Dr. P stopped by to go over everything, and when I asked confirmed that her chimera results remain at >98%. He was very non-chalant, and indicated that he has no concerns about her graft whatsoever at this point. “It would be rare indeed” were she to have a graft problem with where she is at this point, he said. That’s a big relief, I’ve been anxious, constantly waiting for something to take a turn for the worse with that. I will (try to) stop stressing now.

All of this together means we’re one step closer to that normalcy thing I’ve been talking about. Get her to oral medications, eating on her own, lines out of her chest, and she’ll be much better off. I would say much happier, but honestly I’m not sure there is such a thing as a happier baby.

And that, friends, makes me happy too.