| Date | 05/28/04 - Clinic |
| WBC | 3.3 |
| RBC | 2.68 |
| HGB | 7.6 |
| PLT | 12 |
| SEG | 2 |
| BAND | 1 |
| Retic | 0 |
| ANC | 99 |
Friday, May 28, 2004
We went to day care sooner than we anticipated. Kenna woke up this morning with her gums bleeding all over her pillow, so we spent the morning at the doctor’s office and the afternoon at the hospital. She did very well and we were home by 7:30pm. A very long day, but we are so grateful to not need to spend the night!
Today she got designated donor red cells, but they didn’t have platelets from a designated donor for her. The donor center has volunteers on call to come (thank you!!) but it’s so hard to know which day they will be needed. The protocol calls for her levels to drop to a certain low point before she is transfused, so that her body will sense a “need” and get inclined to make it’s own. That, of course, doesn’t happen on a regular schedule.
The good news is that the ANC indicator, which had dropped lately to 0, was back up today, so it means the “trigger” is working a bit. The solution would be to have more A+ donors available so that units are given almost every day of the month. So we also thank those who are still recruiting donors for her!
Any designated platelets that she doesn’t use will go into the general pool to help others, like the very sick little infant there today who has an even rarer and less curable blood disorder than Kenna’s.
It is an awe-inspiring thing to watch the life-blood of another flowing into her body, keeping her alive, bringing color back to her cheeks, and to realize she is on borrowed time and totally dependent on the generosity of others, who themselves couldn’t take a breath but for the spirit of God in them. It boggles the mind and stirs the soul to immense gratitude.
MJ
MJ