It's good news for the "Butterfly Child" and something his mother calls a "step in the right direction."
Tina Boileau, says much-needed white blood cells have been found in her son Jonathan Pitre's bloodstream for the first time following his stem cell transplant.
The amount is small, a count of 0.1, but it's more than none.
Boileau said in a Facebook post Sunday afternoon, "It's still very early. And tomorrow the number can go back to 0.0 but it's the first sign of white blood cells that we've seen. We will take any win at this point."
The normal range of a WBC count is 4.0 to 11.0.
Boileau donated her own bone marrow to her 16-year-old son on September 8, following an intense schedule of chemotherapy and radiation for Pitre. His WBC count had been 0.0 in the days following, until the cells were discovered in his bloodstream on Sunday.
Pitre has epidermolysis bullosa, or EB, which causes his skin to blister. He's the first Canadian to undergo a Minneapolis-based treatment for the disease.