Days 11 - 14 Consolidation - Long Days at the BMT Clinic

Since Wednesday, Courtney’s only real complaint has been fatigue. This is likely due to the fact that her blood counts are all low and she’s considered anemic. On Friday, we had a long visit to the BMT clinic. We arrived at 9:45 in the morning. They checked her blood, gave her platelets, and a couple of hours later gave her a unit of blood. She actually needed two units, but another unit would have added a couple more hours to what was already a long day, and they said she would be fine receiving it Sunday morning. On the way to the clinic, we were able to pick up Courtney’s brother, Chris, who was in town for a conference. Having him there for a couple of hours really helped the time go by. The clinic has a TV with a DVD player in each room that also make long days there more tolerable. We were able to watch a couple of Courtney’s favorite movies: 50 First Dates and Bruce Almighty! We didn’t leave the clinic until 4:30. Like I said – long day.

Her counts on Friday:
WBC = 0.2 (Very Low)
HGB = 7.7 (Low)
Plt = 6 (Very Low)
Neutro = 0.0

So, Courtney is officially rock bottom. This means we can now start waiting for her WBC counts to go back up and have this round of treatment be officially over. It also means that we really have to be diligent these next few days in keeping Courtney as germ free as possible. This is technically challenging with four small children around, but they’ve been great in keeping their hands washed and staying out of our bedroom. It’s amazing how patient and understanding they have been these past few weeks. We know we have answered prayers to thank for this. So thank you all for your many prayers and amazing support.

We also had a good conversation with Dr V. She said that chances are Courtney is past the point when she should have adverse side effects from the chemo. That’s great, because this round Courtney has suffered relatively few side effects at all. That made Courtney really happy! We just have to make it through the next week or so while her WBC’s recover and pray that she doesn’t get a fever during this time.

Saturday was fairly uneventful and, since Courtney didn’t have to go anywhere, she was able to get much needed rest. The girls had a fun time playing with my sister, Molly, who was in town through today, helping out while my Mom went home for a few days.

Today the girls took part in a wonderful children’s program at our church. It was sad that Courtney didn’t get to be there for it. While they were each speaking their parts and singing songs, Courtney was back in the clinic receiving more blood. Some tradeoff. Hopefully, the blood will help keep her from feeling too crummy. You really don’t have a lot of choices for things you can do while being treated for cancer. I think that aspect is really taking a toll on Courtney. She can’t wait to get back to having a “normal” life. Fortunately, that day will come in the not too distant future. Unfortunately, that future day is still distant. We pray that the transplant will be successful and her recovery will be quick. We have a date to the Caribbean waiting for us!