Oh, there's a platelet. No, THERE. Wait, come back!!!

Hi everyone:

Yesterday, Patty and I took Kathleen to her oncologist's office to have her blood counts checked. Although her hemoglobin remained more-or-less stable at 8.2 (not at all great, but at least not plummeting), her platelets were down again, this time to 1,000 (normal is 140,000 and up). Her oncologist arranged for her to receive three units of platelets--one yesterday, two today.

After we waited 2-1/2 hours for the bags of platelets to arrive, nurses in the infusion clinic tried to pull a fast one: rather than stay three hours after their shifts were to end, they tried to admit Kathleen to the hospital on a 23-hour hospitalization to receive the platelets. Kathleen refused...and we applaud her for this. She's had plenty of days in hospital, and could well have plenty more, so who could blame her for saying no to an overnight based solely on others' convenience?

Early this morning, Kathleen and Patty headed out to the infusion clinic for the three rounds of platelets. Kathleen's oncologist is hoping our girl's bone marrow responds to the chemo and starts to produce platelets again. In the past, we've seen things appear bleak before taking a sudden turn toward optimism; let's hope this time will follow suit. As Kathleen's oncologist confirmed yesterday, this is all a bit of a beat-the-clock issue, because every moment with her platelets so low carries a real risk of internal bleeding. What's more, they need to get the platelets up so that in a couple of weeks they can give her more chemo, which will of course drive her platelets and hemoglobin down again. Crazy stuff, but Kiddo keeps rolling with all this...

Last night, Don, Sean, Sean's fiance Sam and Valerie (with a friend) came over to spend time with Kathleen. We've "stolen" her for a few nights because she needs constant supervision and support, something a teacher off for the summer (and her work-at-home hubby) can provide. Let's keep our fingers crossed Kathleen will soon be safe and able to bunk down in her own bed.

I'll catch you up again as soon as the gals provide an update.

Love,
Brian