Apologies for the delay in posting, luckily there has been enough news these last two weeks to fill my procrastination-shaped void. The tldr version of this post: Cathy is at home, rebounding nicely, and on track for CAR T-cell therapy in August as planned. That general summarization does obscure the volatility experienced since the last post though, so here’s the longer version:

In our last episode, the cytarabine hit Cathy hard which extended her hospital stay. Luckily, the soul crushing fevers didn’t pop up again and she was able to finish treatment, receive a blood transfusion to stabilize her hemoglobin counts (or as the world’s weirdest goody bag) and released later that day. She got a fitful night’s sleep before we got to turn around and make the trek back down to the University of Chicago for a check up with her oncologist. Here’s an abridged reenactment of that appointment:

Doctor: “Your leg is doing much better and this second drug seemed to do the trick. How do you feel?”

Cathy: “Like garbage.”

Doctor: “You’ll probably feel even worse as your blood counts drop over the coming week.”

Cathy: “🙁”

Shocker, but the Doctor was right. Last week Cathy’s blood counts cratered. A “normal” person’s platelet count is between 150-400. At one point, hers was 2. Her white blood cell count was so low that if decimal’s didn’t exist it would’ve been zero. So that meant re-instituting COVID era isolation protocols and getting an infusion of platelets last Thursday after a regularly scheduled check up. On the way home we got a call from the nurse practitioner telling us that the one unit of platelets wasn’t enough and Cathy’s counts were still dangerously low. Given we were halfway home, stuck in traffic, and all the outpatient infusion labs were closed for the day she recommended we show up at the local ER to get more platelets.

We were a little hesitant to show up to the ER reception desk, with our hand out, and say “Hi, yes, I’m here to purchase some more blood,” but Cathy’s a rule follower so that’s what we did. We also made sure we got a punch card for visiting two hospitals in one day. We then had to sit around while they drew the same labs that were taken a few hours before, just at a different hospital system, wait some more, and then try to hide my amusement as the emergency room doctor eventually came in all concerned with the shocking question, “did you know your blood counts are dangerously low?” We continued to wait until the platelets were ordered and infused. In that time the ER doc talked to her oncologist who gave permission to go home if her platelets hit 20 (she was at 7) and to keep infusing until that happened. We figured we were in for a number of infusions so I procured a recliner from a friendly nurse. Luckily, this second infusion of the day did the trick and we were dismissed at 1:30 AM.

Since then, Cathy’s counts have rebounded quite nicely. She has an immune system once again and her platelet counts are naturally on the rise. She’s beginning to feel like herself again, albeit still very (understandably) tired, and once again fighting boredom. So if you have any book/movie/podcast/comic book recommendations, shoot her a text! We have a number of appointments over the coming weeks, but if all goes according to plan Cathy will be admitted for the CAR T therapy on August 9th, so let’s hope the boredom continues for a few more weeks at least!