Well, Davis had a week off from chemo because of low counts. He was retested on Wednesday, and his counts were still low. The team decided it would be best for Davis to postpone his chemo until Monday. On Monday, he is set to have another CBC and CMP. This will determine if his counts have increased enough to resume chemo.
Davis has been experiencing some fatigue, headaches. and dizziness. We can naturally assume this is related to the low counts. Since we have been down this road before, Kyle and I decided it was best to bring Davis down to St. Louis today for a transfusion. The transfusion will eliminate the symptoms and will save us a trip down here on Monday. We are also hoping that if his counts come up, he won't need to postpone his chemo given in clinic on this coming Friday.
It has been a very long time since we have needed to be in the SLCH ER. There is such a comforting sorrow being here. Familiar. It's depressing thinking of why we have been here, but the times we have spent with one another -- just being together -- have been beyond wonderful.
Our day started at 9:30 this morning. When we hit St. Louis, we attempted to avoid the stand-still traffic (part of the interstate is closed) by detouring through town. What a mistake! There was a parade taking place, which further detoured our route, and I am pretty sure we hit every stop light along the way. We finally checked in a little after noon, and we have about an hour's wait on Davis' transfusion. (5 hours and 36 minutes into our ER visit)
The CBC here in the ER revealed that Davis' counts are going up. His red blood cells were at 7.9 on Wednesday, and now he is over 8.0 (before transfusion). His platelets were 43 and are now over 50. The blood transfusion will give him the boost that he needs to feel like himself again.
It really is crazy how something as simple as a blood transfusion eats away at eight or more hours of the day. Hopefully, we will be released from here in time for a late supper. Davis is eager for Kyle to try a restaurant on The Hill that Davis and I ate at a few months ago. Eating out is a nice perk for the trip.
If all goes as planned, Davis will have a blood test on Monday. Hopefully, his counts will have increased significantly, and his chemo will be resumed on Monday evening. With the increase in his counts, Davis will head back down to St. Louis on Friday for his monthly check-up, in-clinic chemo, and breathing treatment.
You know, just today, we were talking to the ER nurse about how blessed we are. Davis hasn't received a transfusion for the last six months. He has done so well. And as far as what caused the count drop now, the doctors believe it was a combination of the chemo and a virus. Their best guess is that Davis' immune system wasn't strong enough to fight off the chemo and a virus causing the neutropenia and anemia. This is expected. We just count our blessings because Davis is doing so well, and his body (and immune system) is still responding to the chemo and is growing stronger.
We will keep you posted.
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