This morning the checkup at the Blood Marrow Clinic did not give us the good news we hoped for - Randy's ANC has dropped even lower. We were stunned and worried about what this might mean.
The decision was made to give Randy some fluids and ask our insurance for approval to give him a shot to help his bone marrow. Soon a PRN who we know (and trust) from Randy's time as an inpatient came in to talk with us. Apparently "this happens sometimes".
?!?
And yet, we do trust her, and the clinic nurse had already said the same thing. The explanation is the some of the high numbers that Randy had when he left the hospital seem to have been a result of the steroids they gave him to control the engraftment syndrome. Sometimes the readings can be wrong because the steroids sort of include/clumps the dead white cells with the new ones. Now that he's off the steroids, the real numbers are coming through.
And "This happens sometimes" so nobody is panicking (except me). The medical plan is to be very careful of his health and get approval for that shot. Approval can take up to 24 hours...
On the other hand, the main reason they are comfortable with this plan is that his others numbers are excellent. His platelets are almost normal (he may have set a new record there, so the nurse may be right about dried papaya) and everything else looks good.
At the other appointment today we had much better news. At Dr Gibbs office they took an X-ray of his shoulder and when it developed the doctor came in and just stood in the doorway grinning at Randy. All of the bone degeneration has completely, 100% healed!!! Good as new! Even the doctor was impressed!
So it was very mixed bag today. Our concern about the ANC is mitigated somewhat by our joy about the bone regeneration.
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