Explaining a bone marrow transplant to a 4 year old.

Erik and Lainey have figured out that I am going to see uncle Daron again.  They don't seem sad about it yet but they are wondering what I will be doing there.  WHen I put Lainey for her nap she seemed kind of glum and wanted to know why I had to go away?  The trip is still a 10ish days away but I figured I better start explaining things since their little brains are thinking about it apparently.

I tend to be honest to a fault so I plan to be upfront about this trip at an age appropriate level.  While Lainey was napping I was able to have a pretty nice conversation with Erik about my upcoming trip.  

Here is how it went....

Me:  Erik, where is Mommy going pretty soon??

Erik: To California to see Daron.

Me:  Do you know what I am going to be doing there??

Erik:  No. What?

Me:  Well, Daron's body still isn't working right and the doctor's think Mommy's body can help fix it.  But I will need to be with Daron in order for my body to help fix his.

Erik:  How are they going to fix it Mommy??  Didn't the medicine fix him??

Me:  Medicine is usually able to fix bodies but this time Daron's body is still not working right.

Erik:  How are they going to fix it now Mommy?

Me:  I had Erik go get an anatomy book we have and asked,  "What do we have inside our bodies? What comes out when they stick a needle in our arms?"

Erik:  BLOOD!

Me:  Yes.  Do you know how our bodies make blood?

Erik:  No. How?

Me:  (Turn to the skeletal page in the book that shows the inside of a bone)  Do you see this cool picture??  This is the inside of a bone.  Inside our bones there are special factories that make blood. (Turning to the circulatory system page)  Do you see this?? We have blood everywhere inside our bodies.  It helps our heart work, our stomach work, and helps our body fight off germs.  It's very important.  

Mommy and Daron have the same factories inside our bones.  Since Daron's factory isn't working the doctors are going to take a very tiny bit of Mommy's factory and put it inside Daron's body.

Erik:  How??  A big shot??

Mommy:  Well, they will use a shot to get a little bit of the factory out of Mommy's body.  Then they will use a big tube and needle and put it into Daron's body.  Mommy's factory cells are amazing and they know how to get to Daron's broken down factory.  Once they get to the right place Daron's factory will start working again and his body will feel better.

Erik:  That's so cool Mommy!!

Mommy:  Yes, it is pretty amazing.

We also talked about how Mommy and Daron both have Factory A.  Kevin, Colin, Daddy, Grandma, Papa, etc. might have Factory B or C so the doctors can't use their factories to fix Daron's broken factory.  

Victor's weed wacker is broken, which Erik has helped him try to fix using duct tape (there is a hole in a tube somewhere).  Erik knows that didn't work.  Erik wanted to know why the medicine didn't fix everything.  I explained that it was like the duct tape, it helped Daron a little but it was still broken (leaking).  So now Daron needs a new factory just like the weed wacker needs a new tube. 

We switched from that conversation right to the topic of guns so he didn't seem  to be concerned or fazed.  I feel better that he has some idea what his mom and Uncle will be up to later this month and hope I was able to explain it in a very non-scary way.