Neutropenia

Cole is once again neutropenic, this time due to his chemo. It's a not unexpected result of taking Methroxate and 6MP. They've taken him off of his chemo for a week and hopefully it'll resolve in due time.

I thought I'd put up a definition of neutropenia here for folks to consume. Wikipedia defines neutropenia here. Here's a few excerpts:

"... a hematological [meaning blood] disorder characterized by an abnormally low number of neutrophil granulocytes [a type of white blood cell]..."

Neutropenia is dangerous because neutrophils are what allow the body to fight off bacterial infections. Without neutrophils, the body is susceptible to bacterial sepsis, or systemic bacterial infection.

They measure neutropenia with a number called ANC, which stands for absolute neutrophil count. Here are the ranges:

• 1000 to 1500: mild neutropenia, minimal risk of infection
• 500 to 1000: moderate neutropenia, moderate risk of infection
• 0 to 500: severe neutropenia, severe risk of infection

Cole's ANC on Thursday was 380, so he falls into the severe neutropenia category. Needless to say, that isn't something that makes a parent's heart feel good. Hopefully, though, since he's been taken off of the chemo that's causing the neutropenia, his counts will come back up soon.

Now, my good reader, I hope that you're more informed on what I mean when I talk about neutropenia.