Weekly Check Up Wednesday, Nov 6

I just realized that I hadn't posted after Eric's last check up on Wednesday. It was such a busy day and then I spent all of Thursday recovering on my couch with Netflix 🤣

Grandma came with us for our check up this week. First we hit the blood lab, which was practically empty - yay!!! And since we're super smart (or slowly learning) we put Emla on Eric's chest while at the blood lab, in case he needed his port accessed for a transfusion in clinic. Then it wasn't on too long - from when we left home - or having to wait for it to work in clinic. Turns out it was a very smart move, since Eric's platelets were THIRTEEN! Normal would be 300ish and 13 is definitely risk of uncontrolled bleeding territory. They were 25 last week and he had a transfusion but they continued to decrease over the week. This isn't really a surprise since platelets only live a couple days and require healthy bone marrow to continue to be produced. Anyhow, long story short, this meant Eric did need his port accessed so that he could have a platelet transfusion. Luckily this time the fancy psoralen platelets were on site so his nurse was able to start the pre-meds, which he needs due to his platelet allergy, immediately and we got home 2 hours earlier than the previous week. Thank heaven since Grandma and I both desperately needed naps; Eric already had one from the Benadryl 😉 

Eric's hemoglobin and white blood cells counts are low, but holding steady. His next check up is next Wednesday, which is also his last day in this cycle of oral chemo. We'll see how his counts are next week and schedule a bone marrow biopsy, likely for the following week. The results of the biopsy will inform next steps in treatment. Eric continues to feel very tired, somewhat nauseous and have little appetite, so while I hope this treatment works, I also hope that we will be able to find a better balance going forward. 

While at the hospital on Wednesday, we stopped by the gift shop and picked up our calendar. I am running out of words to describe just how beautiful it is. I love the 3 Little Pigs, with a Pug, and Puss in Boots with Whiskey the therapy CAT. The calendar is available at the BC Women's and Children's Hospital Gift Shop, as well as their thrift stores around Vancouver for $25 + tax = $28. Also, for the month of November, you can request to have the calendar mailed to you for $28 plus shipping & handling by emailing Shannon at pettherapycalendar@gmail.com