12/27/2009

Sorry it has taken a while to update, I have had lots to say (is anyone surprised?) but the Holidays have kept us busy.

I’ll start off with any info we have received in the last week…
Monday I took William in to get his finger pricked to begin the 3x a week for 6 weeks. We were ordered by our Hematologist to keep track of the levels we get from each CBC (Complete Blood Count) but when I got to our Dr. office lab they said they can’t share the results and that I could set up an online profile. I set it up but it is still not showing lab results. (Meaning I couldn’t find out what Will’s ANC Absolute Neutrophil Count was for Monday).

On Wednesday Morning he and I went to the Hem/Onc clinic for a scheduled check in visit. They did a lab draw for his second CBC of the week and then we met with a Nurse Practitioner because our Hematologist was on vacation. After a physical exam she thought that he looked really good. No cough, or cold symptoms, his incision has healed nicely from surgery, and his back is as well (from the bone marrow biopsy). She was able to get his CBC results from Monday and brought them in to look at together while we waited for the ones for that day. His ANC was 1027 which made me feel pretty happy. (1500 is the bottom of the normal range).

She returned to share Wednesday’s results a while later; his ANC had dropped to 143. I was feeling REALLY let down. The nurse was as well and she said that this COULD mean that he has a form of Cyclical Neutropenia. Again though she did not want to even begin to diagnose him. She reminded me of the things to watch for in case he showed signs of infection over the holidays.

I left feeling happy that Liam is healthy and doing well but this appointment made me realize again how close he is at any moment to getting sick.


We had a wonderful Christmas Eve at my parent’s house and got to visit with some of my family and Paul’s Dad and sister Lisa. Unfortunately Paul got sick on Christmas day and stayed home all day with something like stomach flu. He felt a lot better the next day but said he is still feeling about 85%. I took William to my parent’s house again for Christmas day, but we did have a nice morning with Daddy opening William’s first Christmas presents from Santa!