Wednesday, February 16, 2005

The Eye Problem Diagnosis

So, we've been watching Abby look at us cross-eyed for a couple weeks now with no real improvement. The first appointment that we could get with the recommended eye doc wasn't until the end of Feb so we were just planning on waiting. Yesterday during the appointment with Dr. Smith he decided that we should probably get it check out and so he got us an appointment in the afternoon with the same doctor. This doctor works with Pediatric Oncology patients primarily so that was why we were waiting for him, Dr. King.

Tiffany took Abby there in the afternoon after the lumbar puncture (LP), basically a spinal tap where they inject Methotrexate to get rid of the cancer cells on the other side of the blood brain barrier. Abby did good for the procedure considering she couldn't eat that morning because of the sedation that they use for the procedure. After she came out of it she wasn't so happy though so I think they will try it with out sedation next week. Anyway, Dr. King said that she had a blood hemorrhage in her eye, probably because of the low platelet’s that she had and that it would take a few months to clear up. Basically she can't see out of her left eye when she is looking straight ahead because there is a glob of blood trapped in a fluid sack which disrupts her vision. She can see when she looks up or to the sides, just not straight ahead. Since it will take a month or two to resolve she is going to have to wear a patch on the good eye to force her to use the left one. We'll go back and see Dr. King on March 4th to see the progress.

Other than that the only other concern for Abby right now is that her hemoglobin is low and her ANC is so low that they can't read it... so, expect us to post on the blog in the near future from the hospital. We'll probably go down with her with a fever since her ANC is soooooo low. As for the hemoglobin count Abby will be getting a transfusion again on Thursday to bring it back up, right now it is on ly 8.1, pretty low.

Anyway, there's the info! Anna doing better, Abby is in a good mood mostly and other than being perpetually tired, Tiffany and I are doing great! Thanks again for all of your support!!!

Bye, bye.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. Wish I was there to give you a big long hug Tiffany. Hang on to Jesus and to Mark. We're all praying for you guys. Love you, Erin

Anonymous said...

Schreiber's,

I just got all caught up through your blog, and what a journey...many tears. I can see God at work, and admire you a ton! Thanks for the way you impacted our family during our time in Colorado. We will never forget you guys and the way you reached out to us. We are praying for you. Keep fighting the good fight!

Love,
Scott, Janae, Josiah and Abigail