low blood counts and quarantine

[jessicahsmom]

Hi everyone its me again. I do have a question and I know someone on here can help (I hope)...

My mom's doctor called today and her blood count is down to 2.5 and I guess the usual is around 10. She has to go in Thursday for more blood work and they said if it is still low they will have to give her shots.

I am not sure what the shots are but, my question is with radiation starting next week and she is supposed to be home bound will she have to wear a mask and gloves? I know it sounds silly but, I really don't want her to get sick.

They told her she cannot come into any contact with anyone but, I have kids who are constantly sick and I am the one taking her to all of her appointments, what can I do to safeguard myself to keep her from getting sick?

I know to wash my hands and use Lysol and Clorox but, do you guys have any helpful tips that may help? Thanks again Jessica

[hollyanne]

Katie said everything....the other thing we did was keep anti-bacterial gel everywhere...I mean everywhere. get this kids using it, wipe down the phones, etc. The Procrit and transfusion will do wonders.

Hang in there.

[RandyW]

Aranesp is used for Red Blood Cell production to increase production which helps energy levels.

Neulasta shots are for White blood cell Production. White Blood cells are for Immunization against disease. W/o Immune system a common cold could potentially KILL YOU! REcommend getting masks especially for outside and GOING TO HOSPITAL for CHEMO or Radiation Treatment. Lots of nasty stuff in the air at Hospital.

Hope this helps to clarify what is what. DEb had Aranesp every week + Transfusions for a while.

[ztweb]

We had a preemie baby (the same year that my dad was dx with lung cancer, and started chemo...thus I said we needed to put Lilli and Dad in a bubble to keep them safe!) and we did everything that you see above.

I often changed my clothes around her and also kept the GermX on hand EVERYWHERE. However, the GermX might hurt your mom's hands if they are dry so be careful.

One of the things the doc recommended was that we not take her anywhere!!! No department stores, church, or grocery...this seemed to help. I washed my son's hands, face, and arms when he came home everyday. Keep lysol wipes in your purse for when you go to appointments, as doorknobs are everywhere!

Good luck and God Bless!

[cindi o'h]

yes.. all that. I use a sleeve (still) to open doors when I can. I will wait for someone to come to open the door in-front-of me or coming at me. I have no shame.

If I do touch something public, then I try to remember to keep my hands away from my eyes, nose, mouth etc.

Love the transfusions. Suddenly I became aware of Count Dracula's desire for the good red stuff. It really does feel good... better than good, it feels great!

Good luck to all.

Cindi o'h

[jessicahsmom]

I heard yesterday from someone who used to work in a doctors office say that house plants should be removed from the house or put into a room that my mom doesn't go into.

How abour a Hepa filter...I want to do everything I can to keep her safe. Especially when I will be the only one around for a while. Thanks again for all the great advice once again. Jess

[jessicahsmom]

Hi everyone, do you guys ever wake up and know it is going to be a

bad day and you should just stay in bed and not answer the phone...

Well yesterday was one of those days. This is kinda long but, this

seems to be how my typical days are here in the real world...

It started out with me having to go and pick up my step son from his

mom. He has epilepsy and is special needs and he is on a growth

spurt which is causing a lot of seizures and very bad behavior. He

was being very naughty at his moms and she needed to go over to her

boyfriends parents house, his dad is dying of cancer and hospice was

going to be there sometime yesterday afternoon. It seems they have a

lot of cats and these cats have s**t and P****d all over the house

and they wanted to clean it up and mask the smell before hospice

came. So when I got home from picking him up he was very naughty and

my mom called and said the doctors office called and said her blood

count was really low and they had to quarantine her. The normal

range should be around 10 and hers was 2.5.

So for the next couple of hours I tried to deal with my step son

but, had no luck. After 2 phone calls to his dad, dad decided to

come home early and deal with him. While he was on his way home his

ex wife called and said she tripped and fell and might have broken

her ankle. So my husband dropped my daughter and me off there so I

could bring her to the hospital. So we are almost ready to leave the

hospital and the nurse brought in the crutches. Being new they were

very stiff and the nurse asked my daughter to help. Well with these

crutches they had 2 little buttons to push in so you could either

pull the end out to make it longer or push the end in to make it

shorter. Well none of us were strong enough to push the buttons down

with one hand and pull or push the other end. So I helped my

daughter she pushed the buttons and I went to push the end down

well, needless to say that damn thing went all the way down. When my

daughter was pushing the buttons down, her ring finger had some skin

that had poked through the hole, it got ripped right off.

It didn't seem to bad at first but, then it started bleeding very

bad. Like someone had cut open and artery. It bled and bled and the

nurse wrapped it up several times and tried to put pressure on it

but, my daughter just screamed hysterically that it burned. She

started to hyperventilate. The nurse took us out to the doctor and

when he look at it said yep we need to take care of it and asked

about a tetnus shot. Being 12 she was due for one. She screamed

again bloody murder and refused to get the shot. This whole time

while she hysterical and hyperventilating she is being such a drama

queen and the things that came out of her mouth had us and every one

in the ER rolling laughing. While she was crying/laughing we were

all laughing/crying. She was absolutely hilarious last night.

Everyone had to stop in our room when they walked by and every

single person walked out laughing.

So the nurse comes in to put something on it to numb it and when she

pulled the gauze off it stuck and my daughters finger and it just

about killed her. When the doctor came in and tried to look at it,

same thing. Finally they got her wrapped up and the other nurse came

in to give her the shot and she went ballistic and told them nope

she ain't getting a shot. Finally the nurse copped a deal with her

that if she got the shot in the leg she could ride out in a wheel

chair. That worked until she give her the shot and we had to hold

her down and cover her eyes. Once she was done with the shot she was

fine. Just as we are getting ready to leave my husband showed up,

worried since we were there for 3 1/2 hours. Again she started

crying and hyperventilating telling him that we did nothing but,

laugh at her.

So our trip to the ER went like this:

We show up at 6:00pm with one person in a wheel chair and leave 3

1/2 hours later with two people in a wheel chair. Here is a helpful

hint please don't carpool to the ER. That only means someone else

will get hurt.

My daughter has to be the only one that gets hurt in the ER...right?

Jess