July 22, 2008

Counts and Echo

Madeleine's counts are low, but not super low. Her ANC is 650. Under 500 is considered super low (that's my own fancy terminology, the more medical term is "neutropenic.") She has been much lower than this before, so we aren't too worried. The clinic wants to see us again on Friday to see if her counts are rising or falling.

She was sedated this morning for her echocardiogram with something called chloral hydrate. It was given orally and was a little rougher than her normal sedation (propofol) for the MRIs. Propofol is given through her line and knocks her out within seconds. Chloral Hydrate made her very sleepy, but also very agitated. She hated the taste, and probably the sensation. Once she was asleep though everything was fine. It lasts about six hours so I have to keep waking her up every 30 minutes just to make sure she's still okay. She was awake for a couple of hours earlier today but was acting pretty loopy - very little head and neck control, very wobbly. It's sort of like having a newborn again.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When will you have the results of the echo cardiogram? let me know when you do. Mom N.

Andrea GG said...

Thanks for continuing to update us on how you all are doing. You're in our thoughts-- I hope the test results are positive!