11/4/16-We are off to a rocky start...the phlebotomist had a hard time drawing blood. She left a remarkable bruise which hasn't happened since before Steven had his Hickman line. At clinic, we find out Steven's platelet count has dropped below normal range. Ugh.....our oncologist is concerned so he wants to see us in 2 weeks. His platelets were the first cell line to graft and have been steady in their normal range so we weren't expecting this. Our doctor isn't sure why this would happen so we get to worry about it until our next visit. This doesn't change the vaccination schedule and Steven will receive 5 vaccinations today: Tdap, Polio, HiB, Hepatitis B and Pneumococcal. Steven got a flu vaccination at Walgreens after our last visit so his arms were spared one shot!
All of Steven's tests (chest X-Ray, echo cardiogram, pulmonary function, etc.) look good from last month....a huge relief! Apparently, we were supposed to get an EKG at one year. Not sure what happened but we are scheduled for one when we come back in 2 weeks.
11/15/16-After our last visit, I was wondering if the tramatic blood draw had anything to do with the decreased platelet count. They tagged his specimen as having slight hemolysis. Because we only made our appointment 2 weeks ago, we ended up with a 4:45pm clinic visit. We've never been here this late...like there is no one here! After Steven's blood draw, he got his hair trimmed at the Positive Image Center. We went to the hospital for Steven to get his EKG and arrived at clinic. Mercifully his platelet count is in the normal range again. Our oncologist isn't sure why they were abnormal but we are all grateful they are again in the normal range. The WBC count continues to fluctuate. These new cells are still trying to find their way around and figure out what they should be doing. The scientific reason for this is the fact that Steven is still on immunosuppressants. Once he is weaned off of them completely, the cells should stabilize.
