Day +15: numbers higher

Mina Brigitta's white blood counts made a nice big jump today, from 600 million to 1.5 billion per liter, with neutrophils at 680. Two more days above 500 and she'll be able to go out into the hallway! It's great that she's recovering so fast; they're so vulnerable to infections when they have no counts. She'll be immunosuppressed for a long time, but at least she's got some ability to fight back now.

Another benefit to higher white counts is that the sores in her gut that have caused her pain and nausea will start healing up. Right on cue, she asked for some yogurt today. We didn't have any handy, but she settled for about 8 bites of macaroni and cheese and a few ounces of whole milk. This is the first food she's put in her mouth in probably two weeks.

Unfortunately, her white counts aren't the only thing that are up: her liver function tests came back even more elevated today. However, there are also a couple of new theories about the possible cause. Both the cylcosporine she's on to prevent GVHD and the IV nutrition she's been on for two weeks can cause elevated liver function levels. Veno-occlusive disease seems unlikely because her bilirubin levels are still normal and her liver isn't enlarged. GVHD also seems unlikely, because the problem has gotten worse rather than better since they added the prednisone. With her gut healing, they're going to start tapering down the IV nutrition anyway; we'll be ecstatic if the liver function tests improve at the same time.

Finally, it seems hard to believe, but Mina Brigitta and her Uncle Bill, who is battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma, are going to be the honorees of a Mass said at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. The mass will take place on Tuesday, May 17 at 7 AM local time. This seems like a nice opportunity for another collective prayer for Mina Brigitta's continued recovery. The time translates to 10 PM Monday night on the west coast.