I’m not sure if I mentioned it or not, but a few weeks ago there was talk about Raven having a bone marrow biopsy to determine what could be making her platelets so low. If I didn’t mention it, I’m pretty sure it’s because the idea of her having a bone marrow biopsy secretly terrified me. I had had this long conversation with my favorite nurse at the clinic who just so happens to be Raven’s doctor’s “right hand man” (really woman), and she and I discussed all the potential reasons Raven’s platelet count continue to be so low. She had mentioned that there was a possibility that Raven had a platelet deficiency before she was diagnosed or that this could be just how her body reacts to the medicine and that not everybody can tolerate the medicines she’s on as well. She told me that there may be a possibility that the dosage might need to continue to be reduced until an appropriate amount could be determined. She also said that because the platelet count had been lower than expected so many times that there was a possibility they’d have to do a bone marrow biopsy with her second round of maintenance. Actually now that I re-hash, I recall writing something about this earlier, I’m just not sure how much detail I included.
Well when we had this discussion, I could tell she could read my mind about what was not being said. About the fact that the bone marrow biopsy would reveal if those cancerous cells were active. She cut Raven’s dosage at that visit and said she hoped that would be as far as they’d have to go. That as long as her platelets either remained the same or went up then she would not have to have the biopsy. She gave it two weeks and said the doctor would determine later if the procedure needed to happen. The following weeks went well and we continued with the lower dosage platelets holding around 50,000. I assumed everything was going just fine. Then the day came for Raven’s LP and the start of the second round of maintenance. Erik took her and I stayed home with Phoenix. He told me when they got home that the doctor had indeed decided to do the biopsy. I was scared but at the same time almost relieved to find out what could be the problem. I hoped for the best and decided I’d stay as positive as I could considering the results could go either way. Then I put it out of my mind.
Yesterday, we went back to clinic to have counts done. They pricked her finger and we played in the play room while we waited on results. I guess I kind of forgot that the bone marrow biopsy results could be available because it was a shock when the doctor started going over them with me. It came out of the blue really. We were talking about how Raven was doing and I was showing off her walking skills with him when all of a sudden he says “oh, did you know the bone marrow results came back negative?” I’m telling you at that moment he could have just shut up and walked out of the room and it would’ve been a great appointment. No active cancerous cells in her bone marrow! Yay!
It took a few seconds, but I started asking more questions about the low platelet situation. As it turns out, Raven has all of the “mother cells” for making platelets and although he was unsure of exactly what the levels of each platelet creating cell was, he was sure that she did not have a deficiency pre-cancer diagnosis. He just thinks that this is the way Raven’s body reacts to the medicine she’s on. Some people can handle a lot of the medicine, some people can’t. She just happens to be one of the ones that can’t. We are currently on a break from chemo because her counts are too low, but next week we’ll see where she’s at and go from there. More than likely she’ll be on an even lower dose. It’s a double edged sword in my mind because she’ll be getting a lot less of that harsh medicine which makes me happy but sometimes it makes me nervous because she’s not taking as much as protocol says. It’s just another of the situations in this journey I cannot control. Raven and I will roll with the punches and more than anything I will continue to be grateful that treatment is going well. We continue to be blessed through all of this. Raven is amazing.
Raven's Journey 