numbers coming up

(tuesday – day +6)

this morning we got the good news that alice’s white blood cell count is starting to rise – just a tiny bit : 0.2 to 0.3 (normal is above 3.5) – her neutrophil count is still “TLTC” (too low to count) which makes her “neutropenic” (no first line of defense) – but the fact that her white blood cells are multiplying is good news. above 0.5 she will no longer be neutropenic and will not need to wear a mask outside of her room.

i feel like after sleeping so much 3 days ago, yesterday her energy came back, and she had several walks around the ward

she started neupogen shots yesterday, to increase grafting of the stem cells – the doctor said it’s basically like doping the stem cells to maximize their performance

she did need to get a blood transfusion yesterday as her hemoglobin level went just a tiny bit low – but this was to be expected

because of flu-like symptoms she had 3 days ago (achy muscles) and headaches from the neupogen yesterday, she’s been getting an intraveinous pain killer called “dilaudid” – i’d never heard of this drug, but alice said this is a hollywood designer drug, so when the nurse came in to administer it alice whipped on her sunglasses and took a joan crawford pose –

alice is always very aware of what’s going on in her body – i think having cidp increased her awareness but she already was before – she can feel her heart beating for instance… so as the drug was diffusing through her body she was describing what she was feeling (headache disappeared immediately) and as seconds passed by her speech became more and more joan crawford like, her hands took delicate graceful poses – i was crying of laughter – this is alice basically turning into scheherazade of 1001 arabian nights… so i took a video yesterday, couldn’t resist… it could be i’m the only one who finds it hilarious – alice is totally fine with me sharing this of course : [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA7ph6TnJ0Y[/url]

we finally feel like we’re days away from leaving the hospital. the doctors came in this morning and dr burt reminded her “watched pot never boils” – which is a good point : 4 days could seem very long here – and it could be longer : the blood cells need to rise to a certain level before she can be discharged

she really looks good though, i have to say – it’s wonderful to see her doing so well, with her energy back

it’s all about numbers (white blood cells, neutrophils, platelet count, etc…) – at a certain level she’ll be able to be discharged from the hospital – at another level she’ll have the OK to go home to San Francisco..

for now, patience..

sophie 🙂