One More Week!

Jill had a clinic appointment today. Her doc gave us the results of the bone marrow biopsy from Monday & it is great news! She has less than 5% leukemia cells in her marrow (ideal...not all that uncommon, but definitely ideal). Her ANC (Absolute Neutrophil Count....basically, the part of the White Blood Cell that "matters" when deciding when the body is ready to be hit again with chemo) is only in the 500's (the level at which she is allowed to leave the hospital after recovering from chemo). As many have asked me to explain this better, I will try:

Chemo knocks her down to nearly zero.

She spends the next 3-4 wks trying to get up to 500. It usually takes a LONG time to get to a 3 digit #, then it rises fast. Case in point, two weeks after chemo ended, Jill was at 12, the next day at zero, the next at 19, the next at zero, the next at 13, the next at 216, the next at 480, the next, high enough to go home! The reason she keeps going back down to zero, or close to it, is because her body is likely trying to fight off a virus & uses up the few WBCs it has each time this happens.

She goes home when her ANC is at least 500...a number high enough that she will likely be able to fight infection without succumbing to it (depending on its intensity), but too low to start another round of chemo. They want to see her WBCs recover more & give her an opportunity to increase her weight & strength before knocking her down again. During home stays, she has to go to the clinic every 2-4 days to check her ANC.

She gets readmitted when her ANC is around 1000. They usually admit her in the evening & a spinal tap is scheduled for the next day (to draw fluid out to test, and to inject chemo...although she will likely only have this done once per cycle now...the 6 she had last cycle were due to the fact that they found leukemia cells in her spinal fluid...once they are obliterated completely, they rarely come back...it is not as certain in the bone marrow).

Each chemo cycle usually gets progressively harder; the body takes longer to "bounce back", thus making her hospital stays longer, but also, perhaps, her stays at home in between cycles.

Now, don't worry...I won't do this to you every month! But here's the lowdown for this cycle:
Jill was released on Wed 10/31, with an ANC in the 600s....on Friday, it was down to 100...on Monday, it was in the 300s....today, it was 540. She has another clinic appointment on Tuesday (the doctor does not anticipate her ANC will be 1000 by Friday) & will likely be readmitted on Wednesday 11/14 in the evening, to begin chemo next Thursday, taking us through Thanksgiving. If we're lucky, we'll be home for Christmas (but I'm not going to hold my breath).
My Aunt Mary will be 11/19-11/30 (yay!) and Cousin Kevin will be here 12/5-12/13 (yippee!). When we have someone staying with us (especially if they can drive...we can lend one of our cars), this is so much more do-able. We haven't yet had to do this with Matt being back at work & no one staying here....I'm sure that will pose challenges, but am confident that friends will help out in any way possible, if we simply ask. Thank you though, for anticipating need! Having to ask will never be "easy" for us. We are blessed with so many family & friends who just KNOW what to do to make this experience more bearable.

This past week has been so "normal". Jill is so full of life, and so energetic & rowdy...it just blows my mind that she has cancer! It's still not real. Not until we are faced with some of the terrible horrible things I have been reading about on other people's websites (why do I do this?), will this become real to me. Right now, the hospital is just another playground. When we arrived there on Monday for the bone marrow biopsy, my heart sank....but Jill started kicking her feet while still in her carseat, and excitedly cheering, "Hopitoh! Hopitoh! Hi Werters (workers)!!!!" to the construction crew that lives outside her bedroom window there. She is such joy. If I have to be cooped up in a place surrounded by sadness & disease, I'm glad she's my bunk buddy.

If any of you are around from Thurs-Mon and would like to see her, we will likely be venturing out to a park or two (preferrably one without sand, not known for being "yucky" & not crowded) or a walk & would love it if you could join us! We hesitate to have little kids in the house with her, especially if they go to school or are around older siblings who do, as this is just a bad time of year for surprise illnesses. But outside is ideal...they cough into the wind...she's not likely to pass through it :) Adults in the house are fine, so if only for a few minutes (if you're "in the area"), come on over! (Call first, just in case we are all still in pj's....wait a minute...I DONT CARE!!)

Good Luck to Matt on his first day back in 5 weeks!! I know it will be very hard being away from your baby, honey. She'll be okay. I promise. And I'll try to play more & clean less. Really I will. Priorities....priorities.....shakin' off that OCD.......!!! I love you.

And to all, a good night!
Michelle

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