Good News - Bad News

The good news is that Jan’s white blood cell count continued to increase today. As mentioned earlier, the number we are waiting to see is an ANC reading of at least 500. ANC stands for Absolute Neutrophil Count. Approximately 50-60% of white blood cells are neutrophils and are needed to fight infection. The doctors have determined that a reading of 500 cells per microliter is sufficient to allow Jan to be discharged. Her reading today was 210, so she is well on her way. At this rate, it is possible that Jan will be discharged this weekend.

The bad news is that we learned today that there may be another hospital stay needed in the near future. The chemotherapy treatment for Jan’s type of leukemia calls for two phases, one the induction phase, and a second phase called the consolidation. Jan has completed the induction phase during these past six weeks. The consolidation phase requires an additional five days in the hospital within two weeks of her discharge. So it is very likely that she will be required to return for additional chemotherapy within two weeks of her discharge. We knew that there would be a consolidation phase, but we had no idea that it would require additional hospitalization, or that it would be necessary so soon after she is discharged. This was not welcomed news. The positives include one to two weeks at home around familiar and comfortable surroundings, no I.V. bottles or daily blood samples, no vital signs taken at 2:00 A.M., and no hospital food.