Mama Pham is doing well so far. She is still a bit underweight since her taste buds have not returned and she has occasional nausea. We are trying to make sure she eats with shakes and soups (My, Pho, Hu Tieu!). She is hanging in there and some days are better than others.Next week, we have a CNS Prophylaxis (lumbar puncture with chemo), which is chemo into the spine (also known as intrathecal chemotherapy), as a preventative measure. Cancer cells can get into the Central Nervous System, but chemo drugs cannot, so they have to inject it this way. Mama Pham will have 6 of these injections total. Each time, she gets about 2 tablespoons (need to insert actual mL) of chemo (I think it is methotrexate, need to verify).Mama Pham will also have a stent replacement to make sure her kidneys continue to properly filter all the meds we put into her body. It is too soon to blast out the kidney stones so we will keep the stent in there until her platelets and WBC counts are better. We think the kidney stones maybe have been caused by earlier doses of chemotherapy. We don't know for sure.Right now, her blood counts are:
- ANC: 1.2 (Low), considered neutropenic
- WBC: 3.4
- Hemoglobin: 8.7 (Low), transfusion optional if patient is tired
- Platelets: 26 (Low), be careful of bleeding.
She will need a platelet transfusion before the lumbar puncture.