Day 74 - New Plans...
Because of the hole in his belly, and his 'negative' reaction to the chemo meds, we've decided to pause the 'consolidation' phase for a few weeks. (We had a month of 'induction' then we planned 2 months of 'consolidation', then a few more phases). Instead, we are going to do about 2-3 weeks of 'interim-maintenance' to keep his counts higher and give his belly some time to heal. We will not be giving him the chemo med that really made his counts low, so he should be able to get through this pretty easy. But, we are not stopping the chemo, just giving him lower doses.
This is all dependent on what GI surgery has to say on Thursday. So, we ended up with another few free days, which isn't bad at all! Depending on how things go Thursday, we'll have our next dose of chemo on Friday.
Ryan is struggling with some anxiety (mostly because there is a hole in his tummy), and really isn't interested in eating, but the doctors said that was ok (since he's on TPN, he doesn't really need to eat). We got him a new prescription to help with his mood, and we're trying to keep him content.
Today, we hung out and played with our legos and watched movies. Tomorrow, we have nothing planned, but we might head up to the roof to watch the fireworks. We have so much to be thankful for!
Thank you all for the continued prayers and good thoughts!
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ANC - 2010
Hematocrit - 27.1
Hemoglobin - 9.3
RBC - 3.17
WBC - 3.0
Lymphocytes - 750
Platelets - 288
Hematocrit/Hemoglobin (H&H) - This is a number of how much blood is in his system. His normal range is 28-32/9-11. The numbers are linked, so they are usually referenced together. We will transfuse him more Red Blood Cells if he gets below 21/7.0. (this is the blood you donate at blood drives, and we expect to use lots of it)
RBC (Red Blood Cells) - The number of Red Blood Cells in his body. Normal is 4 - 5.5. He has always been low, so we are happy with numbers around 2.5. This number will go down with chemo.
WBC (White Blood Cells) - This tells us how many white blood cells he has (in thousands). Normal is between 4.5 and 10. We expect this to remain low, between 1.5 and 2.5 for a while.
Creatine - This is a good number to make sure the kidneys are working. Normal range is between .5 and 1.2... If this gets higher, it means his kidneys are struggling.
Glucose - This number tells us that the pancreas is working. Some kids struggle with diabetes as a result of the meds. We want to see this number remain above 60 and below 150.
Lymphocytes - Non-cancerous T-Cells and B-Cells. Normal would be around 1000, so we expect this number to be low. This is the number of cells that will kill off bad cells like viruses.
Platelets - This is the number of platelets in the blood, which helps with clotting. Normal is greater than 150. We will transfuse more platelets if he gets lower than 30.
Co-Ags (PT,APTT) - These numbers tell us how fast he clots.
Bilirubin (Direct/Indirect/Total) - Bilirubin tells us how well the liver is working. Normally, these numbers are less than 1, which is good. However, when the liver starts to be under stress, they may go up. Total Bilirubin is the Conjugated (Direct) + Unconjugated (Indirect). The doctors said these numbers might come up, as his liver is trying to process all the meds we are giving him.
ALT/AST - these are liver numbers, letting us know how much stress the liver is under. Normal range is between 10-50.
Hematocrit - 27.1
Hemoglobin - 9.3
RBC - 3.17
WBC - 3.0
Lymphocytes - 750
Platelets - 288
Description of lab numbers, in layman's terms:
ANC - This tells us how well his body can fight off normal infections... We want this to be greater than 500.. Normal would be greater than 1500.Hematocrit/Hemoglobin (H&H) - This is a number of how much blood is in his system. His normal range is 28-32/9-11. The numbers are linked, so they are usually referenced together. We will transfuse him more Red Blood Cells if he gets below 21/7.0. (this is the blood you donate at blood drives, and we expect to use lots of it)
RBC (Red Blood Cells) - The number of Red Blood Cells in his body. Normal is 4 - 5.5. He has always been low, so we are happy with numbers around 2.5. This number will go down with chemo.
WBC (White Blood Cells) - This tells us how many white blood cells he has (in thousands). Normal is between 4.5 and 10. We expect this to remain low, between 1.5 and 2.5 for a while.
Creatine - This is a good number to make sure the kidneys are working. Normal range is between .5 and 1.2... If this gets higher, it means his kidneys are struggling.
Glucose - This number tells us that the pancreas is working. Some kids struggle with diabetes as a result of the meds. We want to see this number remain above 60 and below 150.
Lymphocytes - Non-cancerous T-Cells and B-Cells. Normal would be around 1000, so we expect this number to be low. This is the number of cells that will kill off bad cells like viruses.
Platelets - This is the number of platelets in the blood, which helps with clotting. Normal is greater than 150. We will transfuse more platelets if he gets lower than 30.
Co-Ags (PT,APTT) - These numbers tell us how fast he clots.
Bilirubin (Direct/Indirect/Total) - Bilirubin tells us how well the liver is working. Normally, these numbers are less than 1, which is good. However, when the liver starts to be under stress, they may go up. Total Bilirubin is the Conjugated (Direct) + Unconjugated (Indirect). The doctors said these numbers might come up, as his liver is trying to process all the meds we are giving him.
ALT/AST - these are liver numbers, letting us know how much stress the liver is under. Normal range is between 10-50.
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