First Official Delay in Therapy

So after two weeks off all medicine, Catherine is still neutropenic (her ANC was 220 down from 360 last week). Interestingly, the rest of her counts went up significantly. Dr. Elisha, who always tells me not to worry, started asking us if she had any runny noses (viruses can drive down your ANC). She hasn't, but Dave was sick this week (I made him wear a mask around the house) so the doctors think she may be fighting something off. Nice to know she can fight something off at all. Our schedule for today was to be a lumbar puncture (LP), an IV dose of Vincristine, and the start of a 5 day course of steroids, as well as the daily 6-MP. Her low ANC has delayed all that by a week which marks the first (and probably not the last) true delay in her treatment (luckily, the missed doses of 6-MP and methotrexate these past two weeks do not need to be made up). Since Catherine's port was already accessed for the LP, Dr. Elisha decided that although probably not necessary, he may as well perform a bone marrow aspirate to check for leukemia cells. He also did it put mine and Dave's minds to rest. We will know the full results tomorrow, but based on what he saw in the microscope everything looked clear and normal. Being a "the glass is half full" kind of guy, he also said that kids whose counts respond so dramatically to the chemo tend to do very well long-term with respect to their prognosis.

We will go back to the doctor Monday for a fingerstick test (at my request). If her ANC is above 500, Catherine will be able to attend her last two days of school. If not, there is always the 2 week camp I signed her up for in early June. On a much lighter note, "Theresa" Grandma took Alex to get a haircut today. The barber ignored my mother's instructions and went scissor happy - I think I was more upset about his haircut than Catherine's ANC!