Day +3: What do these numbers mean?

Briefly, we are cheering for WBC to increase past 0.5, and then we will start cheering for ANC to increase past 0.5.

Right now there is a battle going on inside Nadia. The home team has been knocked down by chemotherapy and can no longer make new blood cells. So the home team cannot create reinforcements. The new stem cells are battling for position, and have the advantage of being able to call on reinforcements – these ‘visiting’ stem cells can make new blood cells. It is a delicate balance, these new stem cells must not be allowed to be too aggressive, or they will also start attacking Nadia’s organs. This is why IVy has increased in size. Nadia is getting many different types of medications, fluids, and immunosuppressants. These immunosuppressants attack the home team and the visitors alike, but the visitors can make reinforcements, so they have an advantage.

In order to monitor how things are going and determine when the new immune system is functioning (and the new stem cells are engrafted), blood is taken daily and different types of blood cells are counted. We have been updating Nadia’s daily blood counts on our twitter account (@nadiasquest), and here is what they all mean:

WBC = White blood cell count. A healthy person has about 7000 of these per microlitre of blood. These cells help fight off infection. In our terms this is ‘7’. Today Nadia’s WBC was 0.1. We are cheering for these numbers to increase. Once they reach about 0.5 they are able to start counting ANC, which is a type of white blood cell.

hgb = Hemoglobin, which is a measure of red blood cells. These cells carry oxygen around the body. Healthy people have more than 120 grams of hemoglobin per litre of blood. Until Nadia’s bone marrow starts making blood cells again, Nadia will receive regular red blood cell transfusions. Today her count was 82, and they like to perform transfusions when this number in the 70s (or so, they take into account how Nadia is doing, if she looks tired or pale, etc).

PLT = Platelets. These help with blood clotting. Nadia has always had a low count, and her easy bruising was our hint that something was wrong. A healthy person has more than 150,000 platelets per microlitre of blood. When reporting we drop the last 3 zeros and call it 150. For months after Nadia’s diagnosis her platelets were less than 10. Even as low as 4. Today her count was 45 and they last gave her a platelet transfusion when they were down at 14. Until Nadia starts creating these cells, she will receive regular platelet transfusions.

ANC = absolute neutrophil count. Neutrophils are a common white blood cell that play an important role in fighting infection. We need these to leave isolation and eventually return to the real world. Healthy people have more than 2500 per microlitre of blood. We shorten this to 2.5. When Nadia’s ANC is greater than 0.5 for two consecutive days, she will be able to leave isolation, and hopefully soon after the hospital. ANC cannot be counted until WBC is greater than 0.5. So today Nadia’s ANC was 0. We are cheering for these to increase.

Bone marrow stem cells are responsible for making all these different blood cells. It is pretty cool!

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Mommy-daughter evening snuggle time before bed

Quickly escalated to play time 😉