Almost Done

So... how is everybody?

Well, Lucy is still sick. She's very subdued and we can tell she's miserable. I'm going to take her to the doctor this afternoon because she has a fever now- I think she might have an ear or sinus infection. Update: She does have an ear infection, so now she's on antibiotics.

Mollie has been doing very well. She went to school on Wednesday and yesterday she stayed for the whole school day plus the girl scout meeting afterwards! She's going for half day today and then she gets her last dose of dexamethasone tonight. The month the steroid pulse has been so much better than last month. Who knows why? She does have a runny nose and I've heard there is a stomach bug going around school, so I'm steeling myself in preparation for Mollie getting sick, but still hoping that these bugs skip over her.

The rest of us are doing fine at the moment; we're trying to figure out a schedule and we're doing a lot of handwashing! The weather lately has been dreary-- some sunshine would be wonderful so we can get out of the house!

Clinic Update

We have all the ingredients for a perfect storm:
- neutropenic cancer patient on steroids
- sick 2-year old
- newborn baby
- tired mama

All we can do is hope for the best and use lots of hand sanitizer!

Mollie had clinic today and her ANC is 700 (that is the automated count- we're still waiting for the manual count). So, she's probably neutropenic & susceptible to infections. Her platelet and hemoglobin numbers are normal though, so the low white count is probably just a sign that she is fighting off a bug. She got her monthly IV vincristine today and we are waiting to find out if she will continue her oral chemo. If her manual ANC is between 500 and 750, her chemo will be cut back to a 50% dose; if her ANC is <500, she will stop chemo until it recovers. She is on dexamethasone (steroids) this week, so that should help her counts recover.

Unfortunately, Lucy is sick with something. She is feverish and lethargic. Trying to get her to cover her mouth, wash her hands, and be careful about spreading germs is just about impossible, but we are trying our best.

We had a nice day yesterday, though. We went out for lunch and then to the local art museum. Mollie brought a notepad and colored pencils (thanks GCW for the supplies and Matt for the idea) and made a few sketches of some of the paintings. Note to self: sign Mollie up for art class!