October 13, 2016

Leukemia is cancer of blood cells. Simply put, abnormal white blood cells (cells responsible for fighting infection) are produced in the bone marrow. The leukemia cells grow and divide, eventually crowding out the normal blood cells. The end result is that it becomes difficult for the body to fight infections, control bleeding, and transport oxygen. Blood lab tests provide really important information that help doctors and nurses know what care Ashtyn needs. WEDNESDAY morning Ashtyn's lab values came back with another very high WBC count of 98,000 when ideally it should be 3,500 to 10,000. We knew a lot of these WBC's are immature, space wasting cells that were crowding out RBC's (oxygen carrying cells) and Platelets (clotting cells). Her hemoglobin (the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body) was 5.1. A normal value would be 12-16 and when it is less than 8.0 Ashtyn needs a RBC transfusion. The problem was, she couldn't get a blood transfusion until the WBC's decreased giving room for the new RBC's. We didn't want her blood too thick. Because of how low her RBC's were, today she was very tired and very pale. Ashtyn slept until 2:00 pm. Soon after waking up she got a bloody nose that would not stop. Why? Her platelets were 21, which is quite low. After over an hour of holding pressure to her nose and spitting blood into a blue plastic bag, she was able to get her platelet transfusion. The bloody nose stopped and she was again able to rest. Great news though!... Her afternoon labs came back with a decrease WBC count of 41,000. That qualified her for two RBC transfusions. Phew! Prayers work and angels are among us.