Too Low for Chemo!

Cora has been a little puny the last few days. She has had a really bad cough that she can't kick, NO APPETITE AT ALL, a low grade fever, and a very upset tummy. We couldn't get her to eat much and when she did, she couldn't keep it down. I spoke to the doctor Thursday night and he said to bring her in Friday morning, just to check on her. We went to the clinic on Friday and her ANC (Absolute Neutrophil Count) was 1045. This is the test they do each week on her blood to see how susceptible she is to infection and how well she can fight it. Anything over 1000 is really good. So the doctor said she looked a little dehydrated, gave her some fluid through her port, and sent us home. He also gave us a prescription for an anti-nausea medicine. So she improved all weekend. She started keeping food down, no more fever at all, and the cough is a lot better. We went back today for chemo and they checked her ANC and it was down LOW to 550. They won't do the chemo unless it is 750. So after 2 hours of waiting, we packed up our things and headed home. The doctor said he was not at all concerned about the drop in her counts. He said this is normal at this point and probably a result of all of the chemo and a little bit of a cold at the same time. He took her off her oral chemo medications that she takes at home and said she could have this week off in an effort to get her counts back up and we will go back again next Monday. So...we are a week behind, but that is OK. We are going to spend this week quarantined at home and pray for better counts next week so that we can move ahead.

The funniest part of the day was when Cora woke up this morning so excited to go to the clinic. (Poor kid, that's just about the only place she's been going lately!) And I said, "Cora what do you want to wear today?" Cora who is very into fashion picked a plaid skirt out of her drawer and said (no joke these are her real words), "I want to wear this hottie tottie little number!" I think she has been spending WAY too much time with aunt Lauren! So here's a picture of her outside the clinic this morning in her "hottie tottie little number!"