Friday, August 5, 2005: Leela's blood count roller coaster continues. Last weekend while in the hospital Leela's ANC (a measure of the body's ability to fight off infections) was 3000. On Thursday when she went in for her last cycle of chemo her ANC had dropped to 720. They usually do not give chemo if your ANC is below 1000, so chemo for this week has been scrubbed. We will go in on Monday to see if her counts have recovered, and if so, she will get her final cycle of chemo on Monday and Tuesday, August 8th and 9th.

The way these fluctuations have been explained to me is that the body tries to regulate the number of white cells by producing more when there are too few and fewer when there are too many. However, the process is not perfect, and in Leela's case, her body probably just over did the reduction in white cells when she had her 3000 count.

Thursday we found out that Leela's MRI will be scheduled for around four weeks after her last cycle. Given the crowded surgical schedule at Children's Hospital, that means Leela's intravenous catheter will likely be removed close to the end of September. Our hoped for long weekend at the beach seems to be getting pushed into October.