A little bit of good news?

Before going inpatient for my ATG treatment, I was typically in the outpatient clinic two times a week to get platelets and about once every week to 10 days to get blood. To give a reference point, here are the normal blood levels for a woman:

White cells: 4.0-12.0

Hematocrit (proportion of blood volume occupied by red blood cells): 36.0-48.0

Platelets: 150-300

When I got to the ER on May 25th, these were my numbers:

White cells: 2.0

Hematocrit: 15

Platelets: 9

I get transfused with platelets if they are under 20 and with red blood cells if my hematocrit is under 22 (since white blood cells only live about one day, they do not transfuse those unless you have a life threatening infection). Since leaving the hospital after my ATG treatment, I have needed platelets about every other day (they typically rise to about 50 after a transfusion then go back to less than 10 the next day) and blood twice a week. My white cells have stayed at .2 since the ATG treatment.

NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS!

I went in to the doc yesterday (7/12) and for the first time since leaving the hospital, I did not need any transfusions!

White cells: .2 (still a long way to go there)

Hematocrit: 24.7

Platelets: 26 (only 6 times less than normal instead of 15!)

I was so happy, in large part because my arms are looking pretty busted up from all the IVs and it is tank top season after all. While this doesn't necessarily mean that the treatment is working yet, it at least means I can hopefully go back to my normal twice a week appointments instead of 3 to 4 times a week. My doctors had warned me that things would get worse before they got better so fingers crossed I'm on the upswing!