It's a long road ahead for Madalayna Ducharme after her bone marrow transplant Friday.
The seven-month-old baby was diagnosed with malignant infantile osteopetrosis, which stunts growth, impairs vision and hearing and if untreated can be fatal.
The girl's family put out a plea in January to try to find a stem cell donor.
It took a few months, with 1,300 people attending swab events and a match was found.
The family posted on Facebook that “The best agreed upon opportunity/match for us after many tests and consultations is our son Henrik.”
The 2-year-old Henrik had a bone marrow harvest Friday. The family says he had surgery to remove bone marrow from both hips. Madalyna later received her brother's bone marrow in the form of a blood transfusion.
Doctors told the family the surgery went well.
Henrik has since been discharged and is recovering at the Ronald McDonald House.
For Madalayna, it's a matter of wait and see to find out if the marrow going into her bones will work as her own.
It will take between 14 and 27 days before doctors can tell if the transfusion was successful.
In the Facebook post, the family thanked everyone for their thoughts and prayers and asked people to continue to think about the family.
A fundraiser to help cover the Ducharme family's expenses will be held on April 1 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Parkwood Gospel Church.
