The past two nights Emily hadn't been able to go to sleep because her persistent cough had returned, and it was/is getting worse. This really made Tracy and I concerned that the pneumonia either wasn't getting better, or even worse that something else was going on. Today was her lab day and we insisted that Emily be seen by her NP and or Doctor after her lab draws.
First result from the blood test is Emily is borderline neutropenic with an ANC level of 540, which is about as low as you can get without having to cut chemo dosage all together. Starting tonight she will be a on %50 dosage. That's discouraging because she's been on so many reduced doses in the past 8 week, and ideally patients need to be at %100 dosage. There isnt anything we can do about this, but hope she starts to get better so we can just be on full dosage for the summer. From here we will probably be on %50 dosage for 2 weeks, then %75 for two weeks and then finally and hopefully back to %100 dosage. It worries me that this keeps happening.
After her labs she saw both Dr. Link and Karolina or NP. She sounded clear but they wanted to do a chest Xray to see if the pneumonia was clearing up. What they told us was if the pneumonia had gotten worse, or was the same as it was in the ER the other week, they would probably switch her to another antibiotic. However, the great news was her pneumonia was much smaller than it was a week and a half ago when we were in the ER, so the antibiotic is working. Her cough is just something we need to live with, and try not to worry about. Given the extra exam and chest Xray, Tracy and I can both rest assured that she's OK.
My opinion is the cough is related to the pneumonia but since she dropped to near neutropenia her defenses are too weak to fight the cough, so reducing her chemo SHOULD help with the cough and allow her immune system to kick the pneumonia and cough to the corner. Let's hope that happens. So while it's hard to reduce the chemo from a cancer point of view, it's probably a good thing holistically. It's all related. Blood cancer is so tough to manage, isn't it? I haven't talk with Tracy about it, but I think we may want her to stay home from school at least for tomorrow to get her levels back up.
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5 comments:
Hang in there Chris...I continue to be amazed at how you and Tracey deal with all of this...not to mention Emily and yes even Haley. You are one amazing family....I know that a week from now this will be behind you and Emily will be taking the proper dosage of meds...I hope her cough subsides and that the next few days bring positive changes.....keeping you all in my thoughts.
Cathy Breit
This appears to be yet another example of the continuing up-and-down nature of Emily's treatment. Thank you for keeping us all informed on a day-to-day basis even though we can do nothing to help except to keep you all in our thoughts and prayers.
Love, Grannie
I am glad the tests and the exam point to Emily recovering from her pneumonia and you can relax a bit. As annoying as it is to keep coughing, I thought that was a good thing in that it allows you to clear your lungs of germs and phlegm. It is a shame that it waits for nightfall and disturbs her sleep...Maybe she can fool it by pretending to go to sleep during the daytime. :-)
Best wishes for a very speedy recovery.
Celia
I'm glad to know she's getting better from the pneumonia. I know as a parent you want to get her on the 100% dosage as quickly as possible, but looking at the big picture, you've come this far and in the past year, little by little you've overcome the obstacles. She has always demonstrated to be so tough, and good things will happen. Hang in there.
Bao Chau
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