Labs Look Good

01/27/06


Just a quickie today.  Erin had blood counts done yesterday.  It was Day 11 of 21 days (hump day for this cycle).  With all the chemos Erin has done in the past Day 11 was usually a pretty important day.  It was the day Erin was most likely to have the lowest white blood counts and be the most susceptible to germs or infections.  We tended to keep a low profile on Days 10 to Day 13 or so, just to be on the safe side.  I knew that oral etoposide was supposed to be "easy" on the counts, but so was topo/cyclo.  Even with neulasta support (the injection to build her white counts), with topo/cyclo her ANC would drop down under 1000 every time.  [To refresh your memory, normal ANC is over 2000.  Under 500 is considered neutropenic and requires her to stay home from school, etc. ]  With the etoposide, she didn't have the benefit of neulasta (that's akin to saying she doesn't have the benefit of being beaten with a stick), and she has bone marrow that has faced down almost a year of toxic chemo.


So what did we get frrom the blood count fairy?


White Blood Count--4100 (normal, even for a regular person)
Absolute Neutrophil Count--2600 (normal, even for a regular person)
Hemoglobin--10.0 (virtually the same as last week, a little anemic, but pretty solid for Erin--Can you say "More Steak?")
Platelets--294,000 (right smack in the middle of normal, for a regular person)


That means she's cleared for action:  OPAS, Jr. tonight, performing with the children's choir on Sunday, AND the start of soccer season next week!