Make Mama Happy

So it's been a whirlwind of emotions and frustrations the past couple of days. We woke up yesterday to find Chelsea's labs had taken a huge leap...

ANC 1,000
Hemoglobin 8.8
Plts 32,000

We were obviously taken back to see her ANC had jumped up so high, it's supposed to be dropping and bottoming out here soon. I did notice she had been acting better all weekend, less drooling, sleeping better, and not fussing or in pain any longer. Surprisingly she didn't need blood like I had thought, but they did go ahead and give her platelets.

No one really knew why her ANC went up instead of down and the nurse practitioner insisted she was still dropping, and not to get excited, it's just a fluke. She said they would redraw the labs Wednesday or Thursday. The more I started contemplating the labs though, the more questions I had. Who knows, maybe her counts bottomed out at 400 and were already on the rise. Although it was only day 12 and they insisted that wasn't possible, I reminded them not to underestimate this little girl. They told me again and again no, no, no, she's not going up. I reminded them that everytime someone has made a generalization about this little girl, she has proved them wrong. I also reminded the doctor that she is the first child on this study at our hospital, so no one really knows exactly how they will react to the protocol. He answered, "but she's not the only child with Down syndrome and AML that has ever received chemo." I insisted that they recheck her labs today. I didn't want them to eliminate the possibility she could be going up. He was reluctant, but agreed to keep me happy.

I also started thinking about the fact that her WBC had gone up and the way that she was acting the day before, not walking, a little weak, etc. It was eerily similar to her behaviors when she was first diagnosed. Of course it crossed my mind that maybe the cancer was back, or the chemo wasn't working and didn't knock her counts down like they should have. The doctor admitted that the cancer could come back, today, tomorrow, or next week, but nothing that we see on her labs is going to change what they do right now. Oh yes, and he also told me I have some anxiety issues ... the nerve!

So, in order to make mama happy, we redrew labs this morning:

ANC 110 (quite a drop from 1,000!)
PlTS 124,000 (thanks to the transfusion)
Hemoglobin 8.0 (she'll probably need blood soon)

We really don't know what happened with her labs on Monday. There's no explanation for all of her counts rising. Maybe they got them mixed up and it wasn't even Chelsea's labs. We'll never know. What we do know is that she is dropping, I'll admit it, they were right (isn't that why they get paid the big bucks?)

I really wasn't doubting the doctor, I just wanted him to entertain the idea that Chelsea isn't like every other AML patient. Really, don't underestimate this kid because as soon as you do, she'll prove you wrong!