Transfusion #4

Bailey had transfusion #4 today. All in all, it was a good day. I took her down to Hopkins today by myself so I quickly learned not having my mom or Ben there was definitely harder than I thought, when trying to entertain a 9 month old for 4 hours who wants to crawl and climb on everything...but is attached to an IV pole by her transfusion line! The nurses were great as usual and love to help carry her around and play with her. I got to touch base with Dr. Strouse, and with Dr. Keefer, another hematologist, who reviewed her blood lab results from yesterday with me. Bailey's hemoglobin was at 8.3, which is slightly higher than it was before her last transfusion, which means she kept a good level between this transfusion and the last, even with several colds/viruses, which can sometimes knock red blood cell counts down. She also went 4 weeks in between transfusions this time instead of three, so gooooo Bailey! Ben and I did notice that she was fussy this past week and got up all the time throughout the night the past few nights...and commented it was time for a transfusion, so we could tell she was getting low. Her reticulocyte (new red blood cells) cell count was 1.9, which is the highest its been (aside from a random elevated level on a Labcorp lab which was measured differently than Hopkins' values). Again, we try not to put too much stock in one lab value, but an elevated retic count is good. It could be due to her body producing some natural steroid in response to having been sick recently (apparently, our bodies do this---who knew?) which in turn stimulated her bone marrow to make some new cells. Or she could just be starting to make some herself. So we will see. Again, the whole cautiously optimistic thing! Because Bailey still has a cough and runny nose from the RSV she had last week, its a no-go for the bone marrow biopsy/aspiration until she is 100%. So she'll most likely have that procedure next month.

It was a full house down in the Infusion wing today! I hadn't seen it so busy before. With all that blood going out to kids that need it, I am even more excited for the blood drive coming up! Oh, and Kara, thanks again for the socks. The nurses loved her little stylish flower socks!