Some Ups and Some Downs

Today included a trip to the Clinic for blood counts. Rebekah did well with her needle stick for the blood draw, although she cried for a bit. Grandma C (who was watching Sarah in the toy room at the time) said that Sarah sure knew that her sister was upset.

No transfusions were necessary for today, but doc said to expect one to be needed at our next check on Friday. Her ANC (which identifies the infection fighting white blood cells) was 1.54 (x10'3) - or 1540. The normal range is 1.5-11.0. This figure is the most critical for determining what Rebekah can or can't do. Anything above 1.0 means that she can have a "normal" life including school if we wanted. Below .5 means that we need to be cautious and keep her away from anyone who is sick. Below .2 means being very cautious. Her White Blood Count was 2.0 (x10'3) with normal being 4.5-17.0. Red Blood Count was 3.02 (x10'6) with normal being 3.8-5.4. Hemoglobin was 8.0 with normal being 11.0-14.0. This was flagged as "critical" and her doctor indicated that anything below 7.5 would mean a blood transfusion. This is what Rebekah's doctor is concerned about for Friday. Prayers for this count to not drop would be appreciated so that the transfusion will not be necessary. Her Platelet Count was 222 (x10'3) with a normal range of 140-440. Anything below 10 could require a Platelet transfusion, so we're looking good here.

We have learned that if a transfusion is necessary, which we can expect that they will be from time to time, it will be an all day adventure but not require a night stay. We pray that transfusions won't be necessary. We know that our God can do all things, including keeping Rebekah's counts up enough that transfusions aren't necessary (despite what the doctor's have led us to expect).

Rebekah is a great trooper through everything. She sleeps a little more than normal when we are home, but while we're in the hospital she sleeps a little less. Sarah is a great trooper, too. Both girls will smile at anyone they meet and cheer them up.

This morning Rebekah didn't keep her breakfast down, so we gave her some anti nausea and anti vomiting medicine. This was the first time we needed to give her anything for that. We can pray that it was a one time thing and she won't battle with nausea and vomiting any more. While she is receiving chemo in the hospital, they keep her on the anti nausea medication to prevent any issues.