Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

Reya's platelet count was less than 6k, so she needed another transfusion today. Unless something changes we could be rolling thru this rotation every 5-7 days....NOT! I don't want to play this anymore. The white cell count is up a few notches, but the lingering issue is the makeup of that cell count. There is a condition called neutropenia where the white cells (specifically neutrophils) that fight bacteria and infection are decreased. Her hemoglobin went down a little, but it's still in a good range, but because of the blood transfusion she had a few weeks ago, it's difficult to measure what her body is actually doing on it's own. We will meet on Friday with the Drs. to discuss our plans based on what we've seen over the past two weeks. Mireya took the last of her steroids yesterday. She has been complaining of a stomach ache for the last few days and the question from me was if this was due to her spleen (it's the Pac Man of platelets) or if it's because of the steroids which is known to be destructive to the lining of the stomach. It's not clear which it is, but her spleen appears to be fine, so we'll chalk it up to the medication.

We spoke about typing the full-blood siblings to see if either are a match for her. This process can be lengthy because of insurance approvals. One thing that is of concern is the need to give Reya these transfusions repeatedly. The hope was to give them sparingly and only as needed, unfortunately 'as needed' has become every week. We've had 4 in the last 10-12 days. This could prove to be a factor when they actually type the siblings because her body has and will continue to take on the genetic makeup of the blood products she has received. Mireya is proving not to be a classic ITP case. The team has been more casually using Aplastic Anemia in our discussions. The Dr. shared today that she could count on one hand the number of kids whose systems have rallied back after steroid use alone. The 'standard' treatment for Aplastic Anemia is a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). So as much as I don't want to have to walk down this path and I know that God can INSTANTLY stimulate her body and system to do what it needs to, it would appear we are moving closer to that phase of treatment. We'll discuss everything in more detail at our scheduled follow-up on Friday. I must admit I'm feeling really down and low, but I won't dwell here to long. Even in the midst of all this, I have much to be thankful for. In another reality, it could be worse and trust me week to week my eyes and heart see what the worse could be.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) God allows us to go through trials so that we will come to Him with our problems. It is very similar to the poem 'Footprints in the Sand', it is during the trials that we are carried. God doesn't expect us to go through the trials alone. He wants us to come to Him and have Him carry us through. We don't understand everything and we don't know why, but through it all God will be glorified and lifted up. We continue to trust and draw strength from him to endure all that lies ahead.