This past month has been spent waiting for the immunosuppressants to make their way out of Ezra's system so that we can test the donor chimerism again, which will be done soon. Now that he has been off the immunosuppressants for about one month, the hope is that the donor cells have been able to grow. If not, then this is probably the end of the road for this transplant, and we will start discussing our options for next steps.
This week we have been joyfully celebrating Hanukkah. Last Hanukkah, we joined up with The Maccabeats, actress Mayim Bialik and Gift of Life to try and find Ezra's miracle bone marrow match. No miracles happened last year for Ezra, although matches for many other patients were found. This year, we are still hoping for a miracle match for Ezra, but first we are hoping that he won't need a match for second transplant and instead his donor cells will grow, grow, grow. That is the Hanukkah miracle we are praying for.
In the meantime, we are spoiling Ezra with Hanukkah fun as much as possible and loving every minute of it. And this year we are celebrating in a big way with a huge menorah on our front lawn. A rabbi from the local Chabad (Jewish outreach organization) randomly stopped by our house and asked if we would be willing to let them place one of their super sized menorahs on our front lawn. We said sure - we could use some extra light in our lives this year. It has been a huge hit with Ezra and the whole neighborhood. We're soaking up the light while we can.
