What's on deck

We've had a quiet weekend, which was quite welcome. No doctor's, clinics or new issues at all. Other than Scott eating like he's never eaten before. Prior to bed he is laying out his food plan for the following day. Anyone that really knows Scott realizes what a pleasant surprise this is to us. He seems upbeat most of the time, but does get a bit down and "bored" as he calls it while having to stay around and inside the house all day. It is a huge adjustment for him from that standpoint. Overall he is dealing with this in an amazing manner. He isn't fussy about his medication (he's never liked taking ANY kind of medicine, but understood when the doctors told him he must do as they say). He's keeping cleaner than ever as well. And most important, his attitude about dealing with ALL is great.

I've put a link to information about the "ANC number" at the top of the page, as well right here.

This number is very key throughout the course of treatment. Simplified, it is a barometer of the ability to fight infection, based on the percentage of white blood cells which are neutrophils. Any number below 1500 is considered "abnormal". 1000-1500 is considered "mild" risk, 500-1000 is considered "moderate" risk, and below 500 is considered "severe" risk.

Scott's ANC was 660 when he left the hospital last Wednesday. It was 1253 when we visited the clinic last Friday. He'll get a new reading tomorrow with his clinic visit, which is for a blood test only. As you can see, the number can change very drastically in a very short period of time.

Monitoring this number, and his bloodwork is of the highest importance. The largest risk in this whole issue is an infection of any type. That is the one thing that can cause complications along the way.

So we are off to the clinic again tomorrow morning, and will be again on Thursday.

Scott had a visit from one of the Hillsborough County School folks. On the doctors instructions, he will be held out of school at least for the remainder of this school year. Luckily Hillsborough County has a "Homebound/Hospital" program. The basics of this program can be seen at this link. Stephanie will become teacher by proxy during this time.

We'll update with the information from tomorrow's visit.