Blood Counts

We have been educated on blood counts.. something that is very crucial to cancer patients undergoing chemo.

So Leukemia is cancer of the blood, Your bone marrow creates your blood, and in Lyric's case his blood cells have garbled information. The cells are dividing and dividing but not maturing. And of course with Lyric's type of Leukemia this happens at a very aggressive rate. The chemo kills the blood cells being produced in his marrow.. it's the white cells we want to kill. But of course it kills the red cells and the platelets as well.

Everyday Lyric gets blood taken twice, one in the morning and once in the evening. They run a CBC (Complete Blood Count) so they can determine how well the chemo is doing.

We get this sheet of paper every morning with the "numbers".. and of course you can't wait to get these precious sheets of paper to see how he is doing.

Now, we want his white blood cells to get down to virtually zero. And of course you know that you need white blood cells to fight infection. The good part of the white cells is called Neuts.. so when his white blood cells get to a low number (being .5 or lower) he is considered Neutropenic. That means he needs to be in lock down.. he cannot be exposed to anyone or anything. Any cold or flu could cost him his life. This neutropenic stage is usually 7-10 days into his chemo and there is no way of knowing how long he stays this way.. depends on his health.

Today his red blood cells or Hemoglobin has reached below 70.. that means he could become very ill... head aches, pale, lethargic... and not healthy. His level today was 65, BUT he was in great shape. Once that hemoglobin number gets to 70 or below they give a blood transfusion. It will give his body more energy and help him get a little healthier.

So today they come in with this bag of blood. Strange concept really.. to see this blood trickle down into the IV line and then run into his Hickman line in his chest.

Of course there are side effects to having transfusions, one being your body learns that it is foreign and starts to refuse them... and sometimes cause allergic reactions. So they manage this with drugs... of course.

He is starting to walk much better...well, I guess I should explain. Lyric had 2 lesions or tumors. One was on his eye, causing his eye to be puffy and the other one is resting on a nerve near his legs. The one that is on his nerve is causing him to have walking problems with his left leg. Chemo should take care of this in time. But they are monitoring this frequently just in case.

Spoke with his clinical nurse today, she's wonderful. She is our nurse ongoing through this whole process. I told her about my naturopath and she thought it was wonderful. She understands and thinks anything to help Lyric get better faster to get through his chemo faster is wonderful! So I felt much better at least having someone on my side!!

So we only have a few more days here. I will be going to the Fundraiser on Sunday at 4Triple5 on Queen St... it will be nice to see everyone who has helped support us, a good time to thank and appreciate everyone.