Tuesday, March 28, 2006

38.... Just 38

Yesterday when Tiffany told me what Abby's ANC was she said, "38". I said, "Oh good, 3800... wow, great!" She said, "no, just 38".

So as you can see Abby still has a very low inventory in the immunity store.

So, you might ask, "what does that mean". Well thanks for asking! That means that she will be off chemo for another week and off of her weekend antibiotic. "Is there any thing else?", one might ask. And to that I would respond again with, "why yes, you are very insightful and yes there is something else." If Abby's counts don't come back up by the end of the week then we will have to take her down to get a bone marrow test again... Now that is a big if, and for that reason, I really do hope that her counts do come back up soon.

Now being that you are so insightful and questioning in nature, you may also be wondering what Dr. Smith has to say about all of this. Well, he says things like, "what's up with her counts?" That's just doctor Smith... Let me translate. "What's up with her counts?" means... (Her counts are really low and so we will keep her off chemo again for this next week. This is pretty normal during these treatments and it is a really juggling act to keep kids from being too low or too high. Her counts should come up in the next week and if they don't we'll do a bone marrow but that is unlikely as she is probably just fighting off some virus.)

So, counts again on Friday here in Fort Collins... If they are low then to Denver we go... Pray that they come on up.

Thanks again for checking up on Abby and our family... stay tuned for exciting news where you can do something and quite possibly get a limited edition and autographed picture from Abby and Anna!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Mark and Tiffany. Debbi Koeller here. Tiffany, I think I told you once before that Greg had this happen to him a few times with low counts that just would not seem to rebound. He would go in for labs every day or every other day - it was quite discouraging when the numbers would just not go up. They would finally do a bone marrow and then agreed to give him Neupagin (not sure about the spelling on that!) The doctors generally do not like to give kids with leukemia Neupagin which stimulates white blood cell production because they are somewhat fearful that it could also stimulate leukoblast production, even though I'm not sure there is any real strong evidence to support that theory. (Our doctors are EXTREMELY conservative, which is not always such a bad thing!) Why don't you ask Abby's doctor what their feelings are? I was just reading in this week's Time Magazine an ad about another drug that is used for people on chemotherapy to increase their white blood cell count that was a name I have not heard of - I don't know if it is new or not. Anyway, I don't have the magazine anymore, but you may be able to find the name of it online. These might be good questions for the doctor. I think, though, that they will not give it to her without the bone marrow, unfortunately!! But, it would be worth asking about. When they give you Abby's white blood cell count, always ask for the breakdown which will give you the number of monocytes (one of the types of white blood cells). Our doctors always told us these are the baby white blood cells. Once the monocyte numbers start to go up, the white blood cell count will eventually go up also. Oh - I also wanted to share the title of a book with you that I have found to be immensely edifying, and somewhat humbling when enduring this ordeal. It is "When Storms Come" by Chuck Smith. I know you don't have oodles of reading time, but you might enjoy it also. It is a good reminder to REJOICE during times of trial - truly rejoice!Okay, I will quit my babbling now. You are in our prayers, as always. Much love to those precious little girls whom God has given to you to love and cherish! deb Koeller