It's been awhile since we got all medical in posts, so it's time to lay on the intelligent stuff. The picture above shows the last 18 months worth of ANC's or Absolute Neutrophil Counts. Neutrophils are key components in the system of defense against infection. An absence or reduced number of neutrophils (a condition called neutropenia) makes Charlie vulnerable to infection. Note all of the low points on the graph above. After chemotherapy, the ANC is usually depressed and then slowly rises, reflecting the fact that the bone marrow is recovering and new blood cells are beginning to grow and mature. A sharp rise in neutrophils can also indicate infection in that your body is creating the extra white blood cells to help fight off that little runny nose or nasty cough. Typically a "safe" ANC is 500-1500; a low ANC is less than 500. Charlie has fallen in that "safe range" about 1/3 rd of the time. When his counts are not in the normal range the oncologists bump up his meds so the chemo is therapeutic enough to do its job and get the body to stop making cancer cells. When the counts are really low like in Feb of this year, they stop the chemo and let his body catch up. Bottom line he is all over the place. The doctors assure us that it is in now way an indication that he might relapse, its just that his body metabolizes the drugs at different speeds as he grows. Charlie has to go in for blood work on Tuesday. They held off on bumping his dosages until they could see, mid month where he stands on his ANC. I really hope that he is in the normal range. He is on so many pills on a nightly and weekly basis. They all make him sick and tired and cranky and it is worse when they add more pills to the mix. Here's hoping for a good number like 1100! Wanna take bets or run the statistical analysis?
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