Courage for Claire

Truth telling. Because one of the purposes of this blog is to make people aware. And Claire has given me permission to tell truths. Because the effects of cancer don't always end when the cancer is gone, and because most childhood cancer survivors suffer from long term effects of their treatments for the rest of their lives. It was clinic day yesterday. For the first time since transplant I wasn't racked with anxiety for the few days leading up to her blood draw. And sure enough, her blood counts, at least the ones that we all look at first, were fine. Her platelets had even jumped up. But after a closer look her nurse practitioner L saw some things that weren't so good. Claire's albumin levels are very low. Albumin is a very necessary protein in the blood that is made by the liver. Their are a few possible causes for her low levels. The least likely is a nutritional deficiency, but Claire needs to up her protein intake anyway. A likely cause is extensive scarring in the liver, so Claire will be going back to the liver specialists and possibly having another biopsy. Ouch. There is also the possibility that her kidneys aren't functioning well, and that she is peeing out any albumin that her body is producing. This whole scenario is why her feet have been swelling, and she needs to tell the docs if she starts coughing or being short of breath, which would indicate fluid in her lungs caused by the low albumin levels. Another side effect she is dealing with is the absence of reproductive hormones. In fact, on a hormonal level, she is about the same as a sixty five year old post menopausal woman. Except at age sixty five your body can accept that, but at age nineteen your body is nowhere near ready for that craziness. This is probably the cause for her nightly near-fevers (hot flashes), thin, dry hair regrowth, dry skin, and fatigue. It is also highly unlikely that she will ever be able to conceive children, but we knew that. Her uterus is ok, though, so she could most likely carry a child with a donated egg. (Maybe that is why the good Lord sent me a house full of daughters.) Anyway, a trip to the reproductive endocrinologist is on the schedule, too. So, on we go. Scheduling appointments in between her classes, trying to get things done before she moves out in the fall (!), praying that things keep moving forward. Oh, and looking into getting hand brakes put on her car. Between that and her handicapped parking sticker I think everyone will want to catch a ride with her. Truth.

Btw, if you would like to watch musical numbers from my benefit concert, especially the one featuring Claire, go to YouTube and search Mary Driggs. We raised over $3000 for Curesearch for Children's Cancer!