It’s been a whirlwind of activity for us so our updates have been sparse but if you’ve seen Maddie lately, you are well aware how amazingly spectacular she’s doing!  Her counts lately have been pretty inconsistent with some rather dramatic highs and lows.  She was steady at about 1500-2000+ for a few weeks so Dr. Bob increased one of her chemo meds  that she takes at home by 1 tiny little pill (increased from 6 to 7 pills) and her counts plummeted to 300.  The following week, Maddie was on the steroid Dexamethasone for 5 days as she is every month and her counts went up to 1500+.  Dr. Bob doesn’t believe these counts since what he says happens is the steroid causes all the infection-fighting white blood cells to be released from her bone marrow into the peripheral blood.  The problem is that many of these cells are very young and immature and are not really able to fight off infections yet but are still counted as a white blood cell in her bloodstream, no matter how useless they are.  The release makes her ANC appear high.  So two weeks ago when she went in for labs after she just completed her 5 days of the steroid, her ANC looked good at 1500 but Dr. Bob actually decreased that one chemo drug back down from 7 pills to 6, knowing that her body couldn’t handle that dosage.  When we went back in last Friday 12/28, her counts were:

White:  3.0 (2.1 on 12/21)
Hemoglobin (red): 10.5 (11.1 on 12/21)
Platelets:  289 (303 on 12/21)

ANC:  2130 (693 on 12/21)

Because of her high ANC this week, both of Maddie’s oral chemo meds have been increased.  Dr. Bob is still trying to find the right dosage for her. An ANC over 1500 could mean that the dosage is not high enough, but below 750 means all chemo is held since her body may not be able to handle it.  Because of this, weekly appointments are still necessary but once the right dosage for Maddie is found, we’ll hopefully be able to go in every two weeks instead!  Normally at this phase of treatment, kids are already on an every-two-weeks schedule Dr. Bob explained, but he considers Maddie to be on the more “sensitive” and unpredictable side of the spectrum.

No matter how low Maddie’s counts have gotten during the past month, it’s been hard to tell by looking at her.  Her hemoglobin has been 11+ so she’s had tons of energy and hasn’t needed a red blood transfusion for a couple of months.  Maddie’s had to be taken home by Nana some days when her counts are low if there are classmates who may be ill, but most days she’s able to enjoy her class.  Maddie and Trevor are on break from school for another week and are having fun sleeping late and enjoying the season with friends and family.

So please don’t worry if you don’t see a weekly update.. for no new is good news.  We love you all and I resolve to make more time for blog updates this year! 

This past year seems to have brought a lot of sickness and bad news to many we know.  Goodbye 2007!
Please have a Happy and HEALTHY New Year…   Hello 2008 !!!!  Let’s make this a FABULOUS year full of joy and good things all around, including a BCS championship… Go Warriors!

http://www.sportshawaii.com/video/xmasweb.wmv