Day in the clinic

This morning we went to the clinic to check Maggie's counts--we assumed her hemoglobin would be low enough for a transfusion based on where it was the other day. As it turns out, her hemoglobin (red blood cells that carry oxygen to the body through the bloodstream) were steady from Monday--8.7--no blood transfusion needed. However, her platelets and white counts dropped significantly.

Maggie did receive a platelet transfusion today. She was at 35,000 or so platelets on Monday, and they always transfuse at about 20,000. Today she was at 5,000 (normal range is between 140,000 and 440,000). This is easily the lowest her platelets have ever been, and more than likely she was at risk of complications if she were to start to bleed somewhere or hit her head. Platelets help the blod to clot, so bleeding is a problem when they get this low. Surprisingly, she wasn't showing any signs of being low on platelets (red spots on the skin, easy bruising, or bleeding without clotting). It is a good thing the doctors wanted to check her again this soon after our last visit.

Her white blood count is at 1,200, and her ANC is about 1000. This is down from 11,000 and 10,000 on Monday. So that's a big drop, especially since she's on Neupogen, the drug that helps her to recover white cells more quickly. She'd probably be at zero if she wasn't on Neupogen, I would guess.

Maggie probably has another 3-4 days of her counts dropping before they start to recover. The further she gets toward zero on her white count means she is more likely to get the full effect of the chemo. If she doesn't go all the way to zero, she might recover enough for us to attend some family Thanksgiving celebrations, which we'd love to do. We haven't seen some of our family members in a long time.

Monday morning we go to the clinic and we've been told to expect a blood transfusion, and maybe more platelets. Please continue to pray for uneventful days, weeks, and months for Maggie.