Disappointment

Dr. Barlogie approved Carla's getting the CVL line out today once her platelets were over 50 and then leaving tomorrow if her blood tests were OK.  But things have changed.  I knew they would have to draw blood, get the results, determine if she needed platelets, order platelets, administer platelets, draw another blood sample, wait for test results, see if she needed more platelets.

So, I dropped Carla off at the infusion center about 9:00 and went back to clean the apartment so it wouldn't take much to get it ready to leave tomorrow.  Carla called me once they got her blood results back and her platelets were down to 15 and her red blood cell count was critically low as was her hemoglobin.  She was questioning if she was really well enough to leave.

I took her lunch about 1:30 and eventually it was decided to spend the weekend in Little Rock with her going to the infusion center each day.  Hopefully her blood will improve enough so on Tuesday she can get her blood tested, get platelet count over 50 with platelets if needed, get the line removed from her chest and head home.

Today she got two bags of platelets and one bag of whole blood.  We got home about 5:30.  This is the second day in a row that she has missed her afternoon nap. 

We both were disappointed but would rather have the nurses with experience with  myeloma patients tweaking her blood.

We met with a nurse scheduler and it looks like we will be returning to Little Rock for Consolidation #2 on about August 15th.  This should be the last extended therapy phase.  It will be followed by 3 years of maintenance which can primarily be done in Springfield with initially quarter checkups in Little Rock which should later be at 6 month and possibly yearly intervals.

I am concerned that Carla has a runny nose and a slight cough tonight.  Hopefully she hasn't caught a cold or virus while sitting in the lab frequented by other sick myeloma patients.