SIMON'S PLACE | Transplant

Simon is doing "as advertised", acccording to Dr. Cooke when he rounded this morning. His blood counts are nose-diving, and he's got a fever and double ear infections. The mucositis is starting to hurt for real (that's his body's response to the destruction of the cells that line his mouth and gastrointestinal tract). The addition of a suction device (like one you'd see at the dentist) has given Simon a way to get the gunky mucous out of his mouth. I (Mary) can only imagine this feels like the world's worst post-nasal drip plus a horrendous sore throat that extends down the to the tummy.

BLOOD COUNTS
WBC (white blood cells; infection-fighters) normal range: 4.5-13.5 K/MM3
Hemoglobin (carries oxygen in blood, low=anemic) normal range: 12.5-16.0 g/dl
Hematocrit (not totally sure, but related to red blood cells) normal range: 36.0-49.0%
Platelets (blood clotters; low means risk of internal/external bleeding) normal range: 150-450 K/MM3
ANC (absolute neutrophil count; basic measure of immune system) normal range: 1.8-10.1 K/MM3

GLUTAMINE an aminio acid that can reduce mouth sores after intensive chemotherapy. Not commonly used at UM Hospitals, but hightly recommended by other parents in our Neuroblastoma listserv community. Dr. Yanik said it would be OK to try it and ordered it for Simon.

MYEOLOABLATIVE destroying of bone marrow. Pre-transplant chemotherapy is designed to kill off all bone marrow in the body. The transplant introduces new cells to create new marrow.

NEUPOGEN white blood cell production stimulating agent; injected subcutaneously while WBC is low.

TRANSPLANT

GLOSSARY