The Promised Details

We are finally home 12 hours after leaving the house this morning. It was a long day, but it went well. Katie didn't have any low sugar problems this morning. She woke up in a great mood, ready to face a hungry day. I got a little apple juice into her before the cutoff time for liquids and we headed out. We had to be at Fletcher Allen by 10 so that they could run an IV with glucose for her to keep her blood sugar up while we waited for her actual appointment. By the time the IV was in, her glucose level was 64. Below 60 is considered low for her so we just made it. After an hour of so of the IV her glucose level was 109. We got the rest of her numbers back too, and a couple of them were interesting. For some reason that nobody explained and I didn't ask, her ANC today was only 980. I'm not sure how it could drop by almost half from what it was yesterday afternoon when all of her numbers were on an up-swing and she hadn't had any medications. Hopefully, there was an error counting or reporting her numbers at North Country yesterday and she didn't really drop. Her hemoglobin was down a little too, to a 9.4. However, those numbers were still good enough to allow her to go forward with her treatment schedule.

She hadn't had anything to eat since about 10pm the night before and we were scheduled for a 12pm lumbar puncture (LP), after which she could eat. Our appointment time got pushed back by delays beyond our control and she finally got the LP around 2pm. Needless to say, she was a very hungry little girl but she handled it well. Josh was with us today too, and Josh and I don't eat around Katie when she can't eat. He was more worried about his belly than she was about hers.

I got to bring home a new gadget today as well. We brought home a glucose meter (typically used by diabetics) with which we have to test Katie's blood sugar levels every morning before eating or drinking and every time she shows signs of having a low blood sugar. We are recording the data to try to get a better idea of how her body is handling sugar. This means we get to be the mean people and pick her finger every day for a while. No length of time was specified, but I was given a 50 day supply and a prescription for refills. I get the feeling that this is going to be with us for a while.

Well, she has had her bed time snack and is snuggled in for a well deserved rest right now. I think I'll follow her lead. Tomorrow will bring a new host of challenges.