Day +40: a really encouraging day!

40 days since the transplant. Mina Brigitta did have her MRI today, and the good news is that they didn't see anything at all to worry about. That leaves several suspects for Mina Brigitta's continued sleepiness: an adverse (meaning opposite of expected) reaction to the steroids, continued effects from the Atarax, body still healing, or even "somnolence syndrome", which is basically a sleepiness in children that can last for several weeks and is caused by radiation to the head. They did see some changes to her brain that are a typical side effect of the radiation therapy, but they aren't any indication that she will or won't have long-term effects. It's just too early to tell. They also got a look at her sinuses and didn't see any indication of infection.

Mina Brigitta celebrated by staying awake and interacting for several hours after she got back to the room. She was reading books with Momma, then watched "Ooh-oohs" (Jungle Book), and then read books with Dadda. After she was done with the books, she still wanted to interact, so we actually had a nice little chat. She pointed to the sketches that are still on the walls and said "Ti-ti dis!", referring to our friend Christine who had helped draw one of the pictures. She pointed to my cell phone and said "Anta der!", because Anta Teri had called earlier. She also asked about the whereabouts of Momma and Anta Kari. Then she noticed her reflection in the window for the first time in a while, and said "Sissy dere." I pointed out that she didn't have any hair (probably shouldn't have :-( ). She looked closely and said "All gone!" Then she said "New dis!" pointing to her hair. I told her it would grow in small at first, but she said "No, big!". She was nestling in very close to me when she said all this, and is still feeling a bit ornery, but