Platelets and Hurricane Ike

Low platelets.  Even after her platelet transfusion last week, she still has a low platelet count--14 at last check, just 4 points away from transfusion levels. 

 The bad news is that, because of low platelets,chemo has been delayed for a few days.

The good news is that, because of low platelets, chemo has been delayed for a few days.

I've been doing a little research, trying to find foods that increase platelet counts, as well as hemoglobin and white blood cells.  thank God that we all love salad! Leafy greens, spinach, broccoli, and beans all seem to be on the list of great foods. Yum yum. Really, we do love those good foods and, frankly, I am the best salad-maker that I know. I can't cook worth a darn, but, oh, my salads are really tasty, if I do say so myself.  If you ever invite me to a pot luck, ask me to make a green salad.  For your own sake don't ask me to make a casserole--my brand of creativity and casseroles are not a good match.

But I digress...

Folic acid and vitamin K are the only things I've found that might (notice the italics) increase platelet count. Most sites seems to say there is nothing that can be done to increase platelets. What a sucky attitude-nothing can be done==of course something can be done. I may not know what it is yet, but, duh. 

So Ike is in the Gulf and flooding in Houston is an almost certainty. Sigh. So we have to figure out if we need to get Maura for her daily blood test today. We can get to MD Anderson without too much trouble today, but returning, we would be in the midst of heavy traffic due to coastal evacuations. We're not sure how bad it will be today. We don't want to get stuck on the freeway or risk getting in an accident (low platelets means no clotting which means bleeding to death) and we don't want to add to the congestion. So, decisions, decisions, how badly does Maura need that blood work today? At least we know that her chemo will not be interrupted this time because of a hurricane.

For those of you who live far away, know that we have never flooded or needed to evacuate. We don't live that close to the coast or in a low-lying area. So, don't worry about us in a hurricane. We just hunker down and wait for the electricity to go out, which it will. We're fine.

The hurricane itself will only be an inconvenience for us. Maura's two sisters were supposed to fly in for the weekend. Their flights may be cancelled. Bummer. And Joel is scheduled to work this weekend, but during a natural disaster of this kind, he usually has to stay overnight at the hospital, so we may not see him for two days. Double bummer.