This is Natalee’s 3rd week on chemo and it is where her body starts taking a toll on her. The flip side, she has one week left and then she will be on her 2 week break - yay! This last visit to the doctor wasn’t too promising. Her platelet counts are very low, an average platelet count should be between 140 – 440; Natalee is at 42 units. The concerns are that she can bruise easily and bleed excessively. The doctors told us that if she starts to bleed out of her mouth or have blood in her stool, she needs to get in asap as this is a sign that she might be hemorrhaging internally. She needs to be careful because they don’t want her to get bumped or hit in the head. Natalee has several bruises on her arm and around her eyes and nose where she keeps rubbing, so if her count gets much lower they will do a platelet transfusion.
They are also concerned about her liver as all her readings were very high and that is a first for her. Her LDH is 481, usually her numbers are around 250 – 300 (the normal range is 100-275). If you can say a special prayer asking that her liver will not be affected we would be grateful. It is the liver that helps the tumors to respond to the chemo. Just one more week and then we can give her poor body a rest and give her blood cells time to rebuild.
The doctor asked Natalee how school was going and she had to say that she has only gone five times in the first four weeks. The doctor’s response was that she wasn’t expecting her to go that much since this specific chemo really makes the patient very tired. That was a relief to both Natalee and myself. It has been so hard for her because she really wants to go to school. Some days after she gets ready she is so exhausted that she can’t make it, but most of the time she is not feeling well. Most days her home tutor is able to come and teach her for one hour. Natalee is able to read a lot, she has read (the 7th grade reading) “The Lightning Thief” plus the other four books in that series. This summer she has also read a lot of books. There were several kids from school that gave her books to read, thank you; they have helped her through this time.
-Sherri
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Natalee, I am so glad you were able to hang out with everyone at the b-day party. It was a blast with you there!
Hi Natalee
I've been keeping up with your blog but not keeping up with notes to you. Those are great pictures on the blog--looks like a lot of fun! I thought of you today because I helped get some materials ready for Art Lit at Conestoga and it made me think of the cute "thanks for doing Art Lit" note you made for me at the end of 5th grade--do you remember that? If I hadn't had fun working with your mom and Mrs. Dyches in Art Lit I would never have found myself signing up to do it at Conestoga! They are just getting it going again after about 7 years of not having it. In middle school it is only once per term instead of once per month. Natalee, you stay strong and when you don't feel like being strong don't worry--there are plenty of people around you who will be strong for you. You are surrounded by love and there are so many people thinking of you and carrying you around in their hearts--you might feel like you are staying at home more than usual but you are really traveling all over the place!! Love to you and your family...
Sue Baumgartner
Post a Comment