Feb 22 -- Day 18/30 - Jessie the Vampire

"I vaannt your blood". Jessie got 2 more bags of blood last night which upped her hemoglobin (the cells that carry oxygen to everything). No more headaches or dizziness while resting in bed- apparently she's getting enough O2 to her brain now- YEAH! We need to keep those brain cells working for college!! She also got another big bag of platelets which help to prevent bleeding. She was having some break thru bleeding yesterday (girls, you know what I mean) which still continues albeit light. She was also having a small amount of bleeding in her nose which was clogging her one nostril until extracted. She feels better.
The docs feel like they discovered the cause of her infection. It's a small skin irritation. They said that some bacteria entered the skin and caused lots of problems- mostly misery that wouldn't quit for 2 days.

Her ANC (absolute Neutrophil Count) has risen since yesterday from 56 to 120. The normal range for an ANC is 1,500 to 8,000/mm3.  You poor people are getting educated right along with me! :-)
From a cancer site:
"Neutrophils are key components in the system of defense against infection. An absence or scarcity of neutrophils (a condition called neutropenia) makes a person vulnerable to infection. After chemotherapy, radiation, or a blood or marrow transplant, the ANC is usually depressed and then slowly rises, reflecting the fact that the bone marrow is recovering and new blood cells are beginning to grow and mature."  Incidentally, when she entered the hospital, her ANC was 280 which is why she was getting sick all the time catching germs a normal body would be able to fight off.