Day 9 - Cells grafting would be a good sign

We just got the CBC results; my white blood count went up to 0.3 from it being 0.1 since Sunday. My red blood count went up to 29.5, so I don't have to have another blood transfusion; and my platelets went up to a 10 so I will have to get platelets but that's it. So only an hour or so. Since all of my numbers are going up a little I might be grafting soon!! Very exciting!

We also finally got the Oakwood people to get housekeeping to the apartment, but we couldn't really tell once we got home that they actually came. I do have some bad news; at first Kelly (our coordinator) said that we would probably be here for a total of 22 days; chemo and all. Today Dr. McSweeny said I will have to stay here for 20-25 days post transplant. So it will probably be a whole week that I have to stay more than I expected. Hopefully, Derek and the kids can come down soon.

Day 8 - Life is sure great

So, today Tammy and I went into the clinic at 9:30 a.m. and didn't get back to the apartment until close to 7 p.m. My platelet went down to 3 even after the platelets I got yesterday. My red blood count was down to 25.8, so I had to get another blood transfusion too. I also found out that one of the culture bottles that they took yesterday came back positive for some kind of infection. Now, I have to do another iv drip every 12 hours. I might have to do this for the next 7 days. This one has a side effect that makes your head turn red. When I got it today instead of turning red my head turned purple. The nurse found it hillarious. Hopefully tomorrow my counts will be higher so that I don't have to spend the whole day in the hospital.

Tonight many of my friends from church cleaned my house. If any of you are reading this, I just want you to know how grateful I am; and I hope the house wasn't too horrible. My mantra today is not all sarcasm; life might not be so great right now; but living is sure wonderful.

Day 7 - my hopes rising like leaven

Deliese Kubie came up with today's mantra!
We had a very exciting night last night; We found that the diarrhea that I've been experiencing is because of a bacteria called C-Diff, a very nasty bacteria that is in almost every human but the good bacteria usually fights against it. So I am on another antibiotic to get rid of that. I also experienced a slight fever last night so we had to call the after hours nurse. She came and found that the fever kit that was sent to us didn't have all of the supplies she needed. The good news is that my temperature went down and so I didn't need to go to the ER. My temperature is back to normal again today.

Part 2 - My platelets were down to 7; so I went to the hospital again and got some more. I also had to meet a nurse at the apartment to show me how to hook up an iv at home every 8 hours. Because I had a slight fever yesterday I have to have this antibiotic iv to make sure nothing happened or will.

Tammy came down today to be my caregiver; while Derek went back up to Johnstown for a few days until I get my white blood cell count up. He can bring the kids down with him when that happens; so please, please pray right now that my white blood cells will come up and that the stem cells will graph soon.

Day 6, Marrow as new as these baby chicks

No fevers yet. The few white blood cells that Katie has left haven't quit yet! And yesterday, Katie got her first Neupagen shot. Neupagen promotes white blood cell growth. She'll be getting one each day until those counts go back up.
And today, her red blood cell count dropped below the magic number... 25% (it's been hovering between 25 and 30 for the past 5 days). So, we'll be off to the hospital for a transfusion of red blood cells. That'll take several hours and then we'll head back to the apartment. Just fyi... the normal range for red blood cells is 38-48%. All this is normal. Most patients have 2-4 transfusions. We'll be happy to get away with just this one. Also, her platelet level is getting close to that magic number of 10 (K/uL). Her current platelet level is 14. Normal is 150-400. If she drops below 10, we'll be back to the hospital for another transfusion (of platelets this time).
So, it'll be a fun day of sitting in the hospital while hooked up to a machine.

Day 5, Doing the Jive to "Stayin' Alive"

That song is now in my head. "ah, ah, ah, ah Stayin' Aliiiiiiive".

So I had a bit of fun before leaving the apartment this morning for the clinic. I thought I was doing quite well, in fact, when after I ate a bowl of cheerios, I all of a sudden got sick and threw it up. Then we were in the lobby on our way out the door and the other end started rumbling. So I had to go back upstairs and rush to the bathroom again. Even though I hate throwing up, the worse thing so far is the constant horrible taste that is in my mouth. It makes foods that I love, like the brownies that Derek made last night, taste horrible. The doctor says it is because of the GI tract scuffing cells, since they are very fast growing cells the chemo wiped them out and is continuing too.

My CBC came back and my white cell count is at 0.1; so that is as low as it can go and they expect it to stay that low for a few more days before coming back up. But I managed once again not to go to the hospital for more blood.

Day 4, Hear me Roar

Roaaaaaar!!! I didn't have the computer as much yesterday so I didn't think to blog, sorry. I dodged the blood transfusion again. But my white blood count was 0.2. Which means we have more downhill traveling to go. Now on to day 5.

Day 3, Lovin' my family

My 3rd day! Not that bad yet. And not that bad is great. I miss my kids but everyone knew that I would. I am just so glad that I have Derek. He is so amazing! The doctor did say that this week until day 12 or so will be the worse, so as long as today isn't so bad we are doing good. That means that the kids won't be able to come down until late next week.