Linda's Lymphoma update 6-24-11

I'm back in the saddle hospital again!

Yes, that's right! After the good news yesterday on the blog, Linda awoke choking early this morning (2:45 am) on a lot of phlegm.

When we turned on the light, it was blood. She had a severe nosebleed that we couldn't control with pressure, so I called the oncologist. Her platelets were 38,000 on Monday and she was also on Coumadin for a blood clot in her right leg. So she likely had no clotting ability at all.

The doctor told us her platelets were likely extremely low. For non-medical people, the normal platelets level is 140,000 - 400,000. These little guys in the blood help us clot wounds, cuts etc. They are made in the bone marrow and are affected by the chemo. Usually people are OK until they get below 10-15,000. After the last chemo when she was so ill and in hospital for 11 days, the count was 5,000 but she didn't bleed anywhere.

So he sent us straight to the hospital and she was admitted by 4:00 am. They started platelet transfusions and by 8:00 am, the bleeding had ceased. Her count was 4,000 - lowest I have ever seen.

She is doing OK now, and will be home tomorrow. She still feels well and is pain free, so this is just another speed bump on the road of life.

This chemo is crazy stuff. The number of different complications that can crop up is bewildering.