Category: Leukemia

Still my low-ANC girl.

Today was another clinic visit. I expected the place to be packed but it was almost empty. That’s always nice. We were assigned to Room 3, which Serenity thought was very cool. 3 is her favorite number (because she is 3 years old).

Serenity got to talk to the Child Life Specialist for a few minutes. Serenity has asked to see her during the past few visits, but when things are crazy busy she’s not always easy to track down. This time she helped Serenity to pick out a toy. Phil & I laughed at the Care Bears toy that she played with. It was like a miniature doll house with all these different parts. Serenity picked up the big dinosaur-age computer and asked, “What’s this?” I don’t think she believed us that it was a computer because it was as big as the Care Bears and the chairs they sat on.

The appointment went quickly. Serenity has been especially bashful lately, so she kept her face hidden from the doctor and nurses most of the time. We managed to snap a few quick photos though!

Here she is getting her port cleaned, so that it can be accessed.

And getting her Vincristine (chemo).

She got to pick out a hat from the hat tree in the clinic.

I stopped by the pharmacy to pick up some Prevacid after her visit. It’s been a few months since we bought any, and I don’t know if our insurance was the same. The co-pay was $41! I was in shock. We’ve never had to pay more than $10 for anything. I only had $10 with me, so I left the medicine there. If she needs it we can have it transferred closer to home and pick it up in a few days.

Phil was laid off several weeks ago and we have no money coming in right now. He’s started applying for out of state jobs since so far nothing has come through locally. It will be a blessing if something comes through, but moving is complicated for the obvious reasons, but also because of Serenity’s treatment. If he is able to get a good paying job outside the state, it will mean him moving and most like I will stay here with the kids until she finishes treatment next year. We are praying that it doesn’t come to that. 🙁

Serenity seems to be feeling good, so we got a shock when the clinic called with her lab results. Her ANC is down to ZERO! I don’t know if it’s ever been that low. We always keep her out of public places when her ANC is low (less than 1000) but we are both very nervous that she’ll be exposed to something over the holidays. The good news – if you can call it that – is that she doesn’t get her oral chemo when her ANC is low. We’ve been holding her oral chemo for most of Oct and Nov now, so I do hope that her marrow responds soon and we see those numbers come back up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have low ANC mom!

Serenity cracks me up. She asks me almost daily, “Is my ANC low or high?” She illustrates low and high by putting her hand close to the floor or by her head. She knows that low ANC means she won’t be going to church or preschool, so in her mind low ANC is a good thing. 😉 (She doesn’t like to be anywhere without either Phil or I.)

Her ANC is at 500 today, so she is still taking a break from oral chemo. We will have another blood draw on Monday to see where she is at.

She despises the taste of the Flagyl she is taking for C diff. So Phil devised a method that includes a quick shot of medicine flavored with orange syrup, followed by a drink of milk and a Skittle. So far she’s been cooperative and the other kids love the fact that they get a Skittle as well.

Glad to be home

We are back home, and happier for it. 🙂

Serenity’s labwork came back positive for rhinovirus (a cold) and so we were discharged Friday afternoon. She hasn’t had a fever since Thursday night and appears to be feeling much better. She will have another CBC tomorrow and hopefully her ANC will have come up since it was still 400 at last check.

I got a call today that she tested positive for C diff. No wonder she has been complaining about tummy pain! She’s had bright green diarrhea and smelly gas for the past couple of days. She has a prescription now to take Flagyll for 14 days, so hopefully she will be feeling better quickly.

I am still feeling yucky so I think I must have the flu. I don’t think I’ve had it before and since I don’t feel like lying down to die I had assumed it was something else. But this is dragging on for more than a week now, and I have little energy and have been really weepy, so perhaps it’s a mild case. If only I knew for sure, so I could get out of getting the flu vaccine. 😉

Sick

We came in to the hospital this morning because Serenity woke with a 102 fever and chills, achiness, and cough. It looks like the flu, so that combined with an ANC of 400 means they are keeping her overnight. If she looks good tomorrow & flu results come back positive then we may go home tomorrow. If flu results are neg or it turns out to be a bacterial infection we may be here longer. Her bloodwork seems to indicate it could be the beginnings of a bacterial infection (high % of bands) but her doctor thinks it is probably not.

They are giving her tamiflu so hopefully she will feel better quickly.

Last week

This past weekend was a fun one. Our family camped at Bear Lake for the Halloween weekend and the kids really had a lot of fun. We took a few photos so I’ll try and make time to post them in the next couple of days.

Serenity also had another clinic visit. Her counts are good so she is back to 100% chemo. And she only has 9 months left of treatment! I am amazed that we are so close to the finish line. In some ways it’s a little bit scary to me, the thought of stopping chemo at that point.