Platelet Problems

This post is #86 in a year-long series ... Through this series of posts I plan to share our family's experiences during our 17-year-old daughter's year-long battle with brain cancer, which began in February of 2008. My desire is to process through the events of that year from the perspective that a decade of time has brought ... for myself, really. But if you'd like to follow along, you're welcome to join me.

June 23, 2008

Until Hannah was diagnosed with cancer, I never really thought very much about platelets.  I suppose I first learned about them in science class in junior high.  I had a basic understanding that my blood was made up of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, and then there was the plasma that all that stuff floated around in.  I even had a general awareness that they had something to do with the clotting of blood.  But I didn't really care about them ... They certainly had no impact on my day-to-day life.

I could never have known what a huge factor platelets would eventually become not only in my life, but in Hannah's.

My email from ten years ago today ...

This morning Hannah had her monthly appointment at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and all went well. Our first step, of course, was the blood draw, and fortunately, our favorite nurse was there, and she was able to draw Hannah’s blood with only one stick. Then, after quite a bit of waiting, we got to see the oncologist. He was very pleased with Hannah’s progress, and he shared the results of the bloodwork with us. 

All of Hannah’s counts have gone up (her red blood count is in the average range for the first time in a long time!), except for her platelets, which have dropped even lower than they were last week (down to 32,000 from 47,000). She was supposed to start back on the oral chemo drug today, but they will not start it back until her platelets are at least 75,000. He said that it is not unusual for the platelets to drop way down following these early rounds of chemo; and said that over time, as her body adjusts, it shouldn’t be as much of a problem. 

So…we will be postponing her next round of chemo for at least another week. While Hannah is happy about the temporary reprieve, we hate to get too far off schedule with her treatments, although the doctor didn’t seem to think it was a very big deal. The good news is that Hannah is feeling really good right now. Having low platelets apparently does not affect how you feel; it just causes you to bruise and/or bleed easily because platelets have to do with the clotting process. The doctor also gave us a prescription for a different anti-nausea drug, so hopefully when she does start back on the chemo drug, it won’t make her feel quite so bad.

We are so grateful for the doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc., that God has put into our lives who have really helped us along this road over the past four months. And we are so thankful for all of you who read these emails…many of whom we don’t even know…who pray for our family regularly. Your prayers and encouragement have truly made a difference in our lives. You have truly been a blessing to our family!

God is good, all the time!
Jill and Brad