Skylar initially responded really well to her bone marrow transplant—she engrafted quickly, and everything seemed to be moving in the right direction. We were even scheduled to be discharged on Monday, June 16th. We packed up our room, and Nate moved about 1/2 of our things to our rental, hopeful and excited for this next step-100 days of isolation.
But later that afternoon, everything changed.
Skylar began running a fever again, started throwing up, and was having frequent bowel movements. The doctors became concerned and decided to perform a scope and biopsy of her upper and lower GI tract to check for signs of Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD). Unfortunately, all the test results came back inconclusive.
Since then, Skylar’s symptoms have gotten progressively worse. As of today, her care team has decided to begin treating her for GVHD. She has started steroids to help suppress the mature donor cells that may be attacking her body. The hope is that this treatment will give her time to heal while her new immune system continues to strengthen.
At this point, the doctors are not focused on a release date. Instead, the priority is making sure her body can function at a level that’s safe for discharge—something that could still take several weeks. Skylar will need to show decreased stool output, be able to tolerate medications through her G-tube, and handle both IV nutrition (TPN) and hopefully a small amount G-tube feeds before we can consider going home.
It’s not the timeline we were hoping for—but we’re trusting her team, and counting down the days until we can all be together again as a family.
Thank you for continuing to walk alongside us. Your support means more than we can say.
— The Hubbard Family
