Friday Update

Yesterday Anya was sleepy and developed a rash on her legs. We contacted Anya's nurse and she suggested that we keep an eye on the rash and take her to the ER if it worsened. She also asked that we come in today for bloodwork for a CBC (complete blood count).

Fortunately the rash did not get worse so she just had to visit the clinic this morning. In order to do the bloodwork the nurse only had to poke Anya's finger. We are grateful that they didn't need much blood in order to run the labs but strangely it seems like the poke is more traumatic for Anya than when they access her port! Israel said that Anya cried from the minute the nurse walked in the door until they left the room.

While obviously the poke wasn't any fun for Anya we are thankful to know that Anya's blood counts have recovered some from the chemo. She now has an ANC (absolute neutrophil count) of 2.8 which is within the normal range*! This means we are free to take her in public as long as there are no noticeably sick people around her! Of course, we will still take precaution because anyone can contract an infection and for Anya an infection means an admit to the hospital and postponing chemo. But we are thrilled that she can attend a church service or visit the library.

Right now Anya is taking a nap and has been asleep for two hours. Until yesterday she seemed to be experiencing very few side effects from the chemo medications but she has become sleepy, mildly fussy, has an achy jaw and stomach, and constipated. But today the doctor said that all of this is normal and reaffirmed that it could be much worse.

*Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that fight infection. Normal is considered between 1.5 and 8.0 and risk of infection increases when the number of neutrophils drop below this number - called neutropenia. If the number of neutrophils drop below .5 the risk for infection is especially high.