Low Plates..Again!

So, I had Carly in Ann Arbor today. She had a return visit scheduled. The visit included a blood draw, physical exam and a chat with our NP and Oncologist. I wasn't very happy to hear the Carly's platelet count is lower this time around than it was back in November.

November counts looked like this:

white count 3.3

hemoglobin 13.3

platelets 85,000 (normal is 150,000 - 400,000)

ANC 1.7


Today's counts:

white count 2.8

hemoglobin 13.6

platelets 67,000

ANC 1.2

I was bummed. I really had hoped that her platelets were up from November. We(I)watch every single bruise this kid gets. She hadn't had a bruise in 3 weeks. Then, she went back to school and apparently bumped her knee. A nice looking bruise appeared. But, it was already going away within a few days. I was convinced her platelets had risen. No such luck.

I asked a lot of questions today. Like, "could these low platelets lead to cancer?" I was told no. It is the opposite. Leukemia leads to low platelets. (I do know that, but you can't imagine what thoughts go through my mind) Since Carly doesn't have leukemia that's not what's going on. I also asked about past patients and reactions with their platelets. I was told that they did have other patients that did this very same thing. Then I got brave and asked both our NP and our Oncologist if they honestly believed that Carly was okay. No cancer looming around and if they thought "it" would pop back up. They both replied told me that, yes she is okay and no, they don't think "it" will pop back up. The last thing I asked was, "is it possible that her platelets will ever return to normal"? The answer was, "YES". Wouldn't that be nice? One thing that may have caused her platelet count to be lower today...Strep throat! She had it for 3 weeks and spent 25 days on antibiotics. She just finished her last course of med's up a week ago.

From that appointment Carly and I headed to radiology. Our doc decided at the last minute, to get an ultra sound today, of Carly's spleen and liver. Just to be sure that neither were damaged during chemo. She doesn't expect they were. Plus, this would give them information on just how the spleen is working. During the test, the tech was very talkative. Almost to talkative. She told me, "oh there are no tumors". Nice...being they weren't looking for tumors! She also showed me Carly's ovaries, uterus, kidney's, gall bladder and of course her liver and spleen. It was weird looking at my 8 year olds ovaries and uterus. The tech also said that Carly's liver and spleen looked pretty good. She thought that possibly the spleen was a tad bit large, but said she'd have to pull her charts out with the radiologist. She did tell me that both organs looked quite healthy. I won't get a final report until tomorrow. Hopefully. Being it's Friday I'm not sure if I'll get a report or not. Although, our doc knows I'm a nut job! I'll bet she calls me.

As for return visits. We go back in 6 months. Which really stinks. We are suppose to be going yearly at this point. Oh well, I'd much rather have them checking her more often. At one point today, the doc said we could get labs in 3 months. Then she changed her mind. She told me that I need to be able to find some kind of peace of mind. And she knows that I will be nothing short of a nervous wreck if we check her in 3 months. I was told to "put this out of your mind for the next 6 months". Yeah, right!

That's about all I have. I'm exhausted tonight. I have a splitting headache to top it all off. I came home and took a Xanax and plopped down on the couch for about an hour. I plan on taking another Xanax before I go to bed tonight.