February 10, 2008
Saving Giovanni +306 - 326
Giovanni is doing amazing. He had his check up at Dana Farber and Children's Hospital on Januay 25 and with respect to his transplant he doesn't have to return to Dana Farber's Jimmy Clinic until March. His one year anniversary for his tranaplsnt is March 21, ironically my brother's birthday.
With respect to his ED, his first examination was dental. The dentist predicts Giovanni will only get two teeth on the bottom and he has two visible on top. What this means is he will need bone implants in his gums both bottom and top so that bone will grow in his gums and allow for the placement of several posts that will serve as the anchors for dentures that will be built around the existing teeth and implanted posts. This prognosis is better than his entire mouth filling with deformed teeth. The bone implants will involve some obvious pain, but in comparison to everything he's suffered he will weather this storm as he has the others. He will most definitely have some beautiful teeth, though.
His feeding tube was removed on the 25th and a mickey button installed. The next morning when we got Giovanni up it fell out of his stomach causing a panic in our home. Christina immediately called Giovanni's nurse whom rushed to our home and pushed it back in with some lubricant. She then taped it down to Giovanni's stomach and then she and Christina began calling all over to obtain a new one. Turns out the device was defective and the saline filled bubble deflated and fell out. We all returned to the hospital in the morning and Giovanni go a new button. We also got a few spares ... just in case.
Giovanni is doing great. He has become very vocal and is about to begin crawling. He will be walking in no time. Physical therapy continues and he also has a oral therapist now to teach him how to swallow. He's not eating much baby food, loves ours, but just savors it and swirls it around his mouth to only end up stored in his cheeks like a squirrel. Once he tires of the food because he can't swallow it or spit it out he begins to cry at which time we have to pull the food from his mouth.
Giovanni drives have added 11,536 people to the registry and we got another match for a total of 10 now. Incredible. We are now teaming up with the New England American Red Cross Blood Services and hope to add 15 to 20 thousand people to the registry this year. Giovanni is also becoming his own non-profit. The articles are being filed this week, so any donations one makes can be tax deductable.
Please keep visiting the site, send it to your friends, and if possible contact us if you have any leads for any bone marrow drives.
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