Yesterday's blood test indicated Lauren's ANC counts are very, very low. Anything under 1,500 is considered neupogenic, meaning she is susceptible to germs, bacteria, viruses and infections, requiring us to be careful (constantly washing our hands, thoroughly washing vegetables and fruit, etc.), and avoiding places that have a lot of people and germs, so no Chuck-E-Cheese. An ANC count under 500 is considered super neupogenic, meaning her body can not fight off the above mentioned bad stuff. Laruen's ANC count yesterday was 10. So she is in quarantine to our house. Hopefully, since she had a blood transfusion yesterday and has been getting GCSF shots since Saturday, her counts will start going up. What's going to be tough especially since it's been so hot and humid lately, is telling her she can't go swimming, which she loves to do. We try to avoid telling her "no" to the simple things she likes to do like swimming, hanging out with her friends, playing with her animals, we don't want to make it seem that her tumor is keeping her from having fun.

While Lauren's ANC count is very low, she has been in a great mood and has lots of energy. The blood transfusion really increases her energy level. We recently bought her a Wii, which she loves. She has gotten very good at bowling and skiing. What a great video game. It not only keeps her occupied and active, but it helps direct her energy, and I am hoping it will help her hand-to-eye coordination as well as her overall coordination and balance. It will come in handy when she is cooped up in the hotel when the next round of chemo starts (the hospital recommends we stay locally during the next phase of treatment). She'll get chemo on Monday & Tuesday (probably beginning Sept 8th) and then get her bone marrow/stem cells back on Friday (known as bone marrow rescue). Since her immune system will be destroyed she'll be confined to the room (not that hotel rooms are the cleanest). Hopefully I'll be able to hook up the Wii to TV in the hotel room. I figure it's better than her just sitting around and watching videos all day. Hopefully she'll share her Wii and let me play too.