Day +80: a special visit and a sudden trip to the doctor

Mina Brigitta's special friend Emma and her mother came to visit today. Emma is the daughter of Katy and Awais, our close friends who live across the Bay, and she's two months younger than Mina Brigitta. It was Mina's first time in close quarters with another child since April. She was just waking up from a morning nap when they got here, and she was very shy at first. But Keri helped break the ice by having Mina present a gift to Emma: a sticker book just like the one Mina spent so many hours with in the hospital. I was there for to see that, but then had to go to work. Keri said it was both heartwarming and heart-wrenching to watch them play together. Mina kept bringing things to Emma: her babies, some playdough, her pens to ask Emma to draw babies. She said they were very cute together. But the visit was a bit emotional for Keri, because it brought into sharp focus just how much Mina has been missing out on these past six months.

Keri thought it got to be a bit overwhelming for Mina after a while, and she didn't hesitate to say "bye-bye" before Katy and Emma were ready to go. While they were here, Keri became very concerned about Mina's limp, which I thought had become more pronounced over the weekend as well. We know that both steroids and GVHD can cause problems in the joints, so Keri called the doctors and they wanted to see her right away. They were more concerned about a possible issue with her balance, which could be caused by an electrolyte imbalance, so they wanted to see her and do a blood test. Of course she walked around at the clinic more than she had all day here, but her limp is very obvious and they are definitely concerned. The doctor gave her a very thorough examination and was pleased with the range of motion in her joints. She did say that Mina has little knots in the muscles on her right leg, so she thinks she may just have some strains. It will hopefully start to get better within a few days.