Back in the Hospital Again

Alaina has been in the hospital since Saturday Feb. 4, thanks to a fever that of course went away by the time we got to the ER. With ALL, or I'm sure, any disease that can result in a deficient immune system, any fever of 101 means a trip to the ER...and if counts (her ANC--the neutrafil of a white blood cell that fights off bacteria and infection), her platelets (keeps her from bleeding to death and bruising a bunch....they clot her blood to scab wounds) and hemoglobin (how much oxygen her red blood cells are getting for her)....are low, then she gets a direct admit.

The average persons ANC is 1500-5000. Hers was 20. Anything below 500 is considered neutrapenic and results in staying in the hospital. So, although she's been chasing the nurses around, playing tag, and generally looking good, you could sneeze on her and she'd get pneumonia (in a matter of speaking)....

We've been trying to make the best of it. It's always hard when our family is split a part like this. The good news is she's still able to stay on track with her treatment because the chemos she is on for this phase don't affect her counts, so they'll still give them to her. Vinecristine and Erwinia. Vinecristine usually results in leg/joint pain for her, sometime sin the jaw too, and occasionally a droopy eye. Erwinia is bad about making her tummy upset, so she usually doesn't eat a whole lot after that, and unfortunately, Erwinia is a 3 times a week chemo for 2 weeks. I expect her to look a little waffish after these two weeks are done with.

She misses home, and asks to go home every night before bed...but I think bedtime is just a reminder because of things slowing down, etc. During the day she's happy and playful and goofy as can be!

She spent her 3rd birthday in clinic, Jan. 23, getting a spinal tap and chemo. The chemo that takes 8 hours, so it was a long day...but that week was great, and she had a wonderful fairy tea party the following weekend...plus, was invited to be a "model" for Cook Children's publicity pictures. She had so much fun!

Her ANC dropped to zero 4 days after being admitted so we're waiting for it to come back up. Basically, her bone marrow has been wiped out from the chemo....the chemo kills the bad cells AND the good cells, so we're waiting for her bone marrow to "wake up" and begin producing the good cells again to keep her body healthy. Until then, we'll be doing our best between hospital and home, and Alaina will be doing her best as a nurse in training!

So until we're all home and healthy again, goodbye, and Shine On!

<<--(Alaina's Thank You and birthday cake for her 3rd Bday)