More specifics from Lisa:

Well, even though mom's birthday was a really hard day (maybe the worst day she's had), today she is much better. Her White Blood Count went up from 0.3 to 0.5. And when Dr. Langston came in today she said "I feel pretty confident that this is an indication that engraftment is starting." Although they can't say 100% that the new cells are engrafting, those words were really encouraging.

There is, however, something that is a bit of a concern. She has a case of mucositis in her mouth. It's not anything they are extremely concerned about, however, it is the source of a lot of pain and the lack of appetite for mom. They are taking her off one of her medicines that is suppressing her immune system, so the hope is that it will alleviate the pain and get rid of the infection.

We also were told by our nurse today that if engraftment really is taking place and we continue to see her WBC go up, there is a big possiblity of her getting to go home at the end of the week!!!!! (home meaning the house in Atlanta)

We still have a long road ahead of us, but she's taking it one step at a time and right now she is on the right path. :)

Also, some people are asking what exactly engraftment means. The definition as given by Emory: "Engraftment is a term the doctors use to describe the point when the stem cells start doing their job and blood cell counts start to come up." Hopefully that helps.