0.1 WBC = Living in a Bubble!

After an intense treatment plan last week we were starting to feel like we might get a little bit of normalcy back in our lives for a brief moment thanks to 10 days of no chemo. We went to the clinic today for labs, which we generally do at least once a week, and Sinatra seemed like she was doing great. She hadn't needed nausea medication for a few days, was eating pretty well, has been happy and using more and more words everyday. Our only concern was that she looked a little pale and lost some of her energy, so we thought Sinatra might need to get a blood transfusion. Once we left clinic and we had a feeling that the phone would ring telling us to come back later today or tomorrow to get blood.

Playing with her utensils at the clinic today

Then the nurse from the clinic called and said that Sinatra's hemoglobin was 7.7 and she needed blood so I packed things up and we headed over. When we got to OPI Dr. Horvath came in and shared the news that in addition to low Hgb her ANC was 79 and her white blood count was 0.1. This essentially means she has 0 white blood cells or no immune system to fight of any sort of infection whatsoever. This means that the Cornelius household is in full lock down mode trying to keep Sinatra isolated from anything or anyone that could have any sort of sickness. The doctor said we should even avoid food that has any potential bacteria or could cause illness, like fruit from the ground. It's gonna be a lot of canned fruits, veggies, and processed foods for the next few days.

Playing outside on 3/16

We head back to the clinic on Monday to see how her blood counts look  and have chemo planned for Tuesday regardless of any changes in her levels. In the meantime we are just trying to keep the girls separate for a bit, so if any of Siena's friends are healthy and want to have a play date we will be game for making that happen. Siena is doing great by the way.  She is such a sassy little three year old and she is really funny except for the poopy and pee pee references she makes to everything. For example, mom: "Siena, do you want a PB and J sandwich". Siena: "No mom, I want a poopy sandwich,  ha ha ha!!" It was funny like two months ago but we can't believe she is sticking with that joke. Link keeps trying to get her to come up with something new but she still thinks its so funny.

More to come next week, fingers crossed her counts go up so we can keep going with chemo this round and get to that all important MRD test scheduled for April 7th.