Our Own Little Superhero

It's official. We need to get Timothy a superhero costume. On second thought, maybe his hospital jammies will be just perfect.

Timothy did such a wonderful job today. The harvest of his bone marrow went perfectly this morning. He had a difficult time waking up from the surgery; the anesthesia-haze frustrated him for quite a while. He joined Michael in his room for the transplant and alternated between watching and napping. He enjoyed getting lots of visitors and receiving cards from his classmates and balloons from family friends. He had really been looking forward to being able to order all the hospital food that he wanted, but he struggled with nausea and vomiting well into the evening. He is fast asleep at this point, and I'm praying he will wake up to feel much better tomorrow.

Timothy's attitude throughout has been so sweet. At one point during the transplant while resting on the bed with Michael, he quietly asked, "So is my blood helping you to feel better yet, Michael?" He and Michael played a board game together when the transplant was over, and it was incredibly touching to watch the two of them do something so simple and "normal" on such a huge day for our family. When asked later whether he thought he or Michael had had the worse day, his immediate response was: "Oh, Michael. He has to spend lots more days in the hospital than me!" Probably the most important conversation with Timothy took place on the way to the hospital early this morning. He told me that he was happy to give his blood to save Michael's life just like Jesus was happy to give his blood to save all of us. Timothy certainly puts lots of things into proper perspective for us.

It will be many days before we are able to tell what the result of this transplant will be for Michael. One thing is sure, though. Today Timothy has certainly done everything in his (superhero) power to help his big brother.