Hannah's Test Site

At clinic today we received Christmas present #3, no transfusions! I was so hoping for that, but was a bit nervous considering how the day started out. I could tell by the finger stick that Hannah's platelets were low. Then, at weigh in, Hannah lost 1.5 pounds since last week. At that point I thought "this is not going well, I can't imagine what the counts will bring." We were happy to hear though that Hannah's counts are not terribly low. They are not so great, but still ok. Here is what she had for today:

WBC white cells- 1.5 (should be 5-13)
ANC- 876 (should be 1500-8000, under 500 is severely neutropenic)
RBC red cells- 3.21 (should be 3.9-5.3)
HgB hemoglobin-9.86 (should be 11.5-16, transfuse RBC under 8)
Platelets-86 (should be 140-400, transfuse under 20)

Her doctor anticipates that she may go a bit lower, but not much more. Usually they transfuse blood if your hemoglobin goes below 8, but they plan to let her go a bit lower to 7.5 or 7 before they would transfuse, since she has no chemo left. They can't let her platelets go less than 20, but hopefully she won't. She did have to get ONE shot today for her low ANC, but at least no daily shots.

We were advised to go to church, but make a quick exit at the end so that we weren't in close (hugging) contact with many people. That is what we did, and we were happy to be there. Hannah was very tired throughout the mass and spent most of the time resting on my lap with her coat covering her.

I did speak to the doctor today about Hannah's weight loss and ongoing nausea/stomach pain. He said the nausea is most likely a two part issue-from the chemo and the surgery (in February!!!) Because of the location of the surgery, and the fact that her body has never had time to simply recover (going from surgery to radiation to ongoing chemo), she may still have nausea from that. The meds we have her on now do ok, but have a short life span, so when they begin to wear off, she starts to feel badly again. He switched her medication, so we'll be starting something new this week that is only a once a day pill. I hope that helps so she starts to eat and feel better. He did talk quite a bit to Hannah about her taste and eating. He told her that two of the chemo drugs she received were in the platinum family, which is why many foods may have a metallic taste to them now. It's like eating your jewelry with an after taste. Hannah doesn't really complain so much of a metallic taste, as she does that foods just don't taste at all, or don't taste good to her. It takes several months for this to wear off. He told her to try new foods that she may not have liked before, because her taste has changed now. We'll see how that works out!

We go back to clinic again on Monday, this time on New Year's Eve. Hannah wants the whole crew (Colby, Sydney, Grandma and me) to go with her. She said Grandpa can stay home and keep dad company. Must be a girl thing.

The girls opened their surprise #11 this morning-11 pipers piping, with one pipe for us. I just picked up #12 from downstairs and as far as I can tell, the identity is not revealed, but the girls will open it up in the morning. I know they are looking forward to it as much as Santa coming.

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful and healthy 2008. We will continue to pray for all of our cancer friends: Alec, Jacob, Kaitlyn, Jake, Stanley, Jolene (who was being admitted today when we were there for her last round of chemo), Lexie, Caroline, Jannah, Daniel, Jacob W, Coleman, Julian, Courtney, and so many more. Also our cancer kids who have already earned their angel wings including Jessica, Scott and way too many others.

xoxo Kim