In the last update, Karen’s platelet count was dropping so we asked for prayer that the levels would increase over this past week. The results of her blood test conducted on October 27th were an answer to prayer! Karen’s platelet counts improved from 86,000 to 104,000.

A “normal” count for an adult is between about 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per micro liter of blood. If platelet levels fall below 20,000 per micro liter, spontaneous bleeding may occur and is considered a life-threatening risk.

Generally, when a platelet count falls below 30,000, doctors order platelet transfusions until the counts return to a safe level. At this point, Karen is above the trigger for transfusion. Platelets are in the plasma of blood, but they can be separated out. A unit of whole blood (see donation) contains only a small amount of platelets, so usually several units of platelets (from different donors) need to be combined. Typically, 5 to 10 units of these ‘random donor’ platelets are combined and given as a single transfusion. Please continue to pray for improvement in Karen’s platelet levels. We want to avoid blood transfusions if at all possible. For more information on Blood and Its Components, click here.

If there is any good news to low platelets it’s that she was able to enjoy another week free of chemo. Her energy levels generally improve when she is not taking chemo and she took full advantage of the energy this past week. Karen re-started round 6 of chemo (Xeloda) on Friday, October 28th. Please for extra strength for her over the next two weeks and that the chemo would continue destroying cancerous cells while doing no damage to other parts of her body systems.

Her Red Blood Count has improved but in effort to boost the levels she was given another Aranesp shot one 27OCT visit.

Karen is scheduled for another battery of testing next week. Hopefully in the next update I can provide update information on ammonia and tumor marker levels.

That's all the update for this week. Thank you for checking on Karen's progress.