Thursday +185 (Evening)

I reported on Monday that Jackie was running a minor fever. We found this was due to the fact that she is neutropenic. Her WBC count had dropped to 1.2 and her absolute neutrophil level (ANC) was only .1 (100). Anything below .5 (500) can cause the body to elevate the body's temperature. If the fever goes above 101.3 they will begin IV antibiotics and blood cultures. The antibiotics can cause the blood counts to decline further.

in order to combat the low count she has been receiving growth factor shots each day. As of today her WBC count had increased to 1.5 but ANC was still at .1. A normal ANC would be 1.5 (1500) or above. By having a low ANC she is highly susceptible to any type of infection. The good news is that her RBC (Hgl) count is in the low normal range at 12.0. Her platelets have declined to 118 from 170 a few weeks ago.

The doctors don't know why her counts have declined. It may be due to some GvHD. We will continue to watch the counts and hope they improve.

Until later...

Bruce and Jackie
From Pryor