BMT process in a nutshell.  Once remission is confirmed, Christian will be scheduled abruptly for the transplant.  The transplant process will have Christian in the hospital between six weeks and six months.  Most patients are out of transplant in three months.

The first week of the process Christian is an outpatient while a battery of diagnostic tests are performed to map his strengths and weaknesses.

The second week, days -7 through -1, Christian is given bone marrow lethal doses of chemotherapy and total body irradiation.  Days -2 and -1 are rest days, probably so the chemo can pass out of his system.  On day -7 we go into an isolation room.

On day 0 he is given the transplant, which is just like a blood transfusion.  We are warned that it is anticlimactic.  For the next month at least Christian will be depending on transfusions to keep his platelet and hemoglobin counts at acceptable levels.

Days 1-14 Christian will have no effective immune system.  Essentially the cells transplanted are like seeds that need to be given time to germinate.

Days 15-21 should see the new immune system become measurable.  Infections would delay this as the infection would sponge white blood cells out of the blood stream.

If all goes well, sometime in the 21-28 day frame we would be moved to the "step down unit".  This unit is more of a standard hospital unit.

Days 29-100 should see us dealing with host vs. graph disease, where the new immune system attacks the host (Christian).  Hopefully we will see some, as it appears if any leukemic cells survived, they are early casualties.  An intense case would be life threatening.

This is the most optimistic scenario.

About one in eight kids do not survive through day 21.