Day 11, Chemo Round 2

If this is your idea of morning fun, then I now understand just how angry those birds are.  We started this morning like any other day, with Jade's oral meds (five is the most she takes at one time during the week; six on the weekends).  It's not nearly as bad as it was when we first started along this road, when refusal followed by gagging were the norm... But now she's an old pro, so she even helps by pushing the plunger on some of them. What's on deck?

1. Polyvisol: a multi-vitamin taken once daily 
2. Zofran: anti-nausea taken 3-4 times daily
3. Cypraheptadine: appetite stimulant taken three times daily
4. Levoflaxin: antibiotic taken twice daily
5. Flucanozole: antifungal taken once daily.
6. Bactrim: antibiotic taken twice daily on Saturdays and Sundays.

One happy baby! Jade after
this evening's bathtime.

Each of these meds is critical to Jade's tolerance of the chemotherapy and recovery.  Chemo does so many things to the body.  In addition to killing cancerous cells and other rapidly dividing cells (like hair, the cells lining the digestive tract, etc.), it completely destroys the immune system and can also cause bleeding, nausea, loss of appetite, mouth sores, diarrhea or constipation, dizziness, exhaustion/fatigue, heart disease, and the list goes on.  We thank God that Jade has not experienced most of these side effects.

The antibiotics and antifungals are especially important because her immune system is so weak, as expected, from the chemotherapy treatments.  Just four days ago, her ANC (absolute neutrophil count, a measure of a specific type of white blood cell that gauges your body's ability to fight against germs and infection) was at 1,500.  A normal ANC range is 1,000 and up (depending on the treatment center.)  Today, Jade's ANC is at 18, which means her body has very few natural resources to fight off infections of any kind. But, you wouldn't know by looking at her.  Her energy is high, and aside from what I believe to be a mild case of constipation (I'm a mom, so you had to know it wouldn't be too long before I devolved to poop talk), all is well.  Finally got her to drink the Miralax concoction the nurses gave us about an hour before she went to sleep... This should make for an interesting night to say the least.   

Thanks for checking in on Jade and continuing to keep her in your prayers.