I'm a little late with the update, but I'm back dating this post so I can keep track for myself. Sorry to all those that have been waiting to hear this week. It's been crazy at home.
SO... we had our clinic appointment today. We were scheduled for the bone marrow biopsy (that we missed last Monday) and also blood labs and physical. And boy does a 8:00am appointment come early to us when we're dealing with all we're dealing with at home. First we had to check in downstairs for the RTU (rapid treatment unit) and the go upstairs to clinic. They checked Alex in and did her vitals... NO FEVER! yay! Just knowing we could proceed was the first good news of the day. The next piece of good news was to follow... As we were waiting on the nurses to come in (which took forever and we were all adding up how many extra minutes we could have slept in) the BMT member came in and was going over all of Alex's labs from the previous week. I asked her if she had the results of the Chimerism test. She smiled and said "I DO have the results, and it's great news!" Alex's test results came back as 100% donor cells. This is fabulous news! At this point it would be heartbreaking if her old bone marrow started working and the donor cells did not. BUT... the donor marrow has made its new home inside Alex. YAY!
After talking with the doctor about some miscommunication over IV fluids at home, they determined that Alex was really low on magnesium and had to return to the clinic after the bone marrow biopsy for a magnesium boost. The day would be longer than anticipated. Lucky for us, we are always prepared to pack a lunch and forward our mail when we go to the hospital with Alex.
The bone marrow biopsy went as normal. Alex has had so many of these that they don't even phase her. She really responds quite well to everything they do down there. After she was awake in recovery, we wheeled her upstairs to get some magnesium. This turned out to be an hour and a half IV. They really like to do it over a longer period of time, but this was their quickest solution. The bone marrow director came in for a minute while we were there and said that with the news of the 100% donor cells, that he was almost certain there would be no blasts (cancer cells) in the bone marrow. Of course we won't know the results of that test until next Monday when we return to clinic. The good news is, is so far we are only going into clinic once a week instead of the twice that happens for most people. With Alex having engrafted in the platelet department, that means less hospital visits for us. YAY! Overall blood counts were looking real good.
Hemoglobin 10.0 (low but coming up)
Hct (red blood cells) 29.7 (low but looking better)
Platelets - 115 (this is just awesome... although still on the low side)
ANC - 1,300
Since we've been home, Alex hasn't been feeling all that well. I'm hoping it's just lingering side effects from all the anesthesia. She seems to be a bit better today than she was yesterday (Feb 8th) but I just wish she would turn another corner and start to feel a little bit better :0( It's a day by day gig here... and that gets hard to deal with at times. But Alex really is doing quite well given what all she's been through in the last (almost) 6 months. WOW! I can't believe it's been almost 6 months since relapse. I think it's about time she started feeling good again! Poor kid has had a really shitty last 3 and a half years. I hope she starts feeling like herself soon.
I want to thank the kind woman Linda (and all that help her help us!) for the huge box of goodies we came home to today! A HUGE box of freezer meals and cleaning supplies! Thank you, thank you! Talk about a totally useful gift! You are a wonderful woman!
Also, I would like to tell everyone about the next blood drive. Something I should have done a few posts back but forgot. The next blood drive is the day after Valentine's. SO... FEBRUARY 15th. This one is in Salt Lake City at Million Air (my old employer and my husband's and mother's current employer). The address is 303 North 2370 West. It's on the General Aviation side of the airport. 1:00pm-6:00pm Please contact me if you can make it. 801-540-0508 We would love to have you there.
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