Day 79: Too Few Neutrophils Again

Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - Today we went to the Yawkey Clinic in anticipation of beginning the second half of Consolidation but were rebuffed after a review of Madeline's counts, an ANC of 670 not the 750 required. It was disappointing, but not too surprising given her hypo-cellular history. They had set her up with a bolus (large quantity) of saline so we watched a movie while that finished and did some shopping en route home.

Each time we go to clinic, they start by "accessing her port," which means that Mady has put emla cream on her port 45 minutes prior, and by the time we get to clinic, the area around her port is numbed by the cream. The nurse sticks a curved needle into her port with the opening in the needle on the backside of the curve so it can’t core through the skin. The needle is attached to a long tube and adaptor with a twist lock that attaches to another tube accessing any medications or needles that she may need. It’s really quite a simple and elegant solution, although I’m having a hard time finding pictures of the curved needle part on the web.

The Critical Care nurse will do another blood draw on Thursday and if Mady has the 750 ANC, then she’ll begin on Friday, otherwise next Tuesday. Do we fret? Of course!!! Love, ca