Wednesday, March 23th: Leela is back in the hospital. Last night and most of today I stayed with her. Tonight and tomorrow Geetha is with her in the hospital. We are on 24 hour alternating shifts. At this point she seems fine but for her low white blood cell "score", known as an ANC. (The ANC is suppose to measure the body's ability to fight off a bacterial infection.)
It was a rough few days for Leela. She was quite fatigued when we got home from the hospital on Saturday evening. The fatigue seemed to get worse on Sunday. All she wanted to do was lay down on the couch and watch TV. Even a visit from Stella Sunday afternoon failed to spark any activity--check the photos section if you do not know Stella. By Sunday night she was running a low-grade fever that on Monday around noon had crossed the magic threshold into an official fever requiring a trip to the Hemonc (i.e., hematology/oncology) clinic at Children's Hospital. (This according to the instructions we received on how to care for kids on Chemotherapy.) After a blood draw and a dose of I.V. antibiotics, she was sent home with instructions to come back for a follow up visit the next day.
Geetha took her back on Tuesday. She was running a low grate fever, but her ANC had fallen quite a bit, so the doctors admitted her to the hospital. Almost as soon her head hit the hospital pillow her fever disappeared, but the blood test taken at 4am today (Wednesday) showed her counts had continued to drop. Hence, the doctors want her to stay in the hospital until her counts turn around. Her blood cultures continue to show no sign of a bacterial infection.
Today Leela had a visit from Stella, David, and Barbara. It really raised her spirits. While tooling around the hospital floor in a little red wagon Leela and Steela met another girl their age in the hemonc unit. She seemed to get a boost from Leela and Stella's energy. Her ANC is zero. Leela's is still above 500.