Better Days

Oliver had a much better day on Saturday. He doesn’t seem to be in as much pain, his mouth has stopped bleeding, we’ve been able to cut down on the number of “bolus’s” (bolii?) that he has been getting above his background morphine, and he has been much more settled. We are still waiting for him to fill one of his nappies. He’s been making the right noises, just no movement at the station just yet. Hopefully today. He’s been holding out for four days now. 4 doses of laxatives hasn’t seemed to move him. Hopefully everything will start to pick up as his neutrophils go up and his morphine requirements go down. We’ll be so excited when he does, even though we’ll probably need to hose the place down. He hasn’t been ‘eating’ (through his little tube) that much though anyway, so maybe his body’s just using it all up. We’ll probably end up with a nappy full of slimy mucus.

I got out yesterday, had a coffee and a chat with a couple of people, and even indulged in some retail therapy (but everything was for Karli – almost everything). As I see people grieving for us, I can’t help but feel a little hard and callous. Intellectually I know what is going on, but emotionally we just haven’t had the time and space to process it all. Here in the hospital we just have to do what we need to do. We are still in shock and whilst we occasionally get a small glimpse at the full reality, it is usually short lived – they don’t like people lying in the foetal position sobbing their hearts out, it’s a safety risk J (not really, but you just don’t know who’s going to walk in and want to have a real conversation with you).

We are picking up a lot of cancer jargon though – I suspect it is the way for many parents with seriously ill children. In order to be able to understand the medical staff you need to be able to talk the talk. So as I’ll probably use some of that jargon, I’ll give you a run down on what is important for us.

The most important thing for us is Oliver’s blood work. Each day they take some blood and check the levels of all sorts of stuff and see if there are any nasties they need to be concerned about – they have to be concerned about all the nasties. We are kept up to date with four specific things that will affect what we do and see with Oliver.
WBC – White Blood Cells – these are a major part of out bodies immune response, destroying foreign substances in the body like viruses, bacteria and fungi. They are made in the bone marrow. Because these are rapidly growing cells, the chemotherapy affects their production. They should fall in to a range between 6.00-16. Oliver’s are currently at 1.6.
Neutrophils – these are a type of WBC that attack foreign bacteria. When these are low Oliver is ‘neutropenic’ and highly susceptible to any little germ. At these times I suspect we will have biohazard tape around our house to keep people away. If you are crook and want to visit, please make sure Oliver isn’t neutropenic, or better still wait until you are better. The range for neutrophils is 3.9-10.2. Oliver is currently neutropenic at 0.03.
Hb – Haemoglobin – this is a protein in your blood that picks up oxygen and carries it to where it needs to go. It is what helps make your blood bright red, and when you are low you are anaemic. It’s basically a measure of your red blood cells (RBC). When Oliver is low he will be tired, weak, cranky, and may get headaches. The normal range is 117-149. Oliver is currently at 117.
Platelets – these are what help your blood to clot. Low platelets mean you can bleed from your smaller blood vessels easily, such as in your nose and gums, and that you will bleed excessively even from a small cut. They also mean you can bruise easily, and can get petichae – small red dots on your skin. The normal range is 180-440. Oliver is currently at 83.

Even though his levels are all low, they have actually risen from the day before, which we hope means he will be steadily improving over the next few days. Here endeth the lesson.