Alyson’s Journey

Alyson is still fatigued. She’s been awake more today than any other day. Bradyn’s been a big influence on her today. He misses playing with her and has said as much. Right now, I am listening to them playing with Legos. They make up a story and then build objects to assist.

B: Just then, the guy got back and had collected a basket of…

A: Berries!

B: So he laid down in the grass with the kitty.

A: Let’s make the berries!

She was scheduled to get labs done on Thursday to see if she would be starting up chemo again on Monday. We weren’t waiting until Friday just in case she needs a transfusion. However, I got worried because of the massive fatigue. John and I decided that Alyson should get her CBCs done today. They were drawn around 11am and I got a call from Children’s around 3pm. White blood cells are a 0.8, platelets are great and hemoglobin is 12.7. Her ANC is 822, which was amazing. I inquired about the necessity of getting labs done again later in the week and was told, “Yes, please.” The steroids Alyson’s been taking can keep the ANC up, so we’ll need to know if the magic number of 750 is still achieved.

Not five minutes later, Children’s called again. The fax from the lab was blurry and it turns out the ANC column was misaligned. 822 was from early February. Today’s ANC is a mere 81. (Remember that’s with the steroids keeping it up.) Whoa.

Therefore, my first assumption of no Clinic on Monday is probably going to hold true. We’re also all keeping our fingers crossed that this bout of neutropenia doesn’t result in a fever and an inpatient stay. (Knock on wood for me, please.) Although, a visit from the Bagel Buddy is always wonderful. Alyson has been talking about you – it’s been way too long since she saw you.