Swift Current toddler home after more than 500 days in hospital

Every entry on Kyla Thomson's blog lists the number of days her daughter Bella has been living at home. So far, those days are fewer than the ones she has spent in hospital. 

The two-year-old spent most of her life in Calgary at the Alberta Children's Hospital, where she was eventually diagnosed with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), a rare genetic disorder. It's the same illness that got the public's attention in the 70s when the made-for-TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble came out. 

"It's quite a miracle that she survived past four months of age, even living in hospital and going through everything she went through," Thomson said. 

For most of Bella's life, she's had almost no immune system. Bella's immunologist in Calgary was floored when she found out she had SCID and survived a year not knowing she had it. 

Now after 10 surgeries, 533 days in hospitals (233 of those in isolation), chemotherapy, two bouts of septic shock, and a blood and marrow transplant, Bella is enjoying life at home at their acreage outside of Swift Current. 

"Oh goodness," Thomson said. "If I had known the road ahead at that time, I think I would have probably fainted."

Kyla said that first night home this past December, Bella yelled, "Puppy!" for an hour when she realized they had a dog. 

Thomson credits her family and faith for helping her get through the hard times, but ultimately it was a bone marrow donation last year that saved Bella's life.

She said they were fortunate to find a donor quickly but she'd like to see more people register to become stem cell donors through Canadian Blood Services' OneMatch program. Thomson would also like to see mandatory screening of newborns for SCID in Saskatchewan. Currently, Ontario is the only province in Canada that does it.

For her mom, the next countdown is to when Bella gets to play with other children. Since Bella has been out of the hospital, her immune system is growing stronger and soon the toddler will be able to get out of the house more, but she's not yet in the clear. 

 "You're never quite out of the woods when you have something like this, but she's closer," Thomson said. "She's near the edge of the woods."