As some of you may remember, Brady had not been treated since Dec.'08 (16 months ago). In Dec. '09 his counts went up to 91k on their own, so we sort've hoped we were seeing a way out of here. But we had him checked in mid-March and his count had dropped to 39k. Although that's a great count, he wanted to do some things on Spring Break that needed a higher count. So we went to the hematologist last Monday for a treatment. Usually one of the sedation nurses can get Brady's vein on the first try, but this day it took three different people and a total of four tries before they found a vein. Then, the doctor came in and said that the Blood bank finally called and they didn't have enough of the Rhophylac (anti-D, like WinRho). They said we could get what they had that day and then come back the next day or just do the smaller dose and see what happens. So, Brady only received about 38mcg per kilo, as opposed to the usual range of 50mcg-75mcg per kilo. He had absolutely no reaction to the treatment, which was great, since he usually gets a headache, chills and throws up. We had his count checked yesterday and it's at 135k, so it isn't as great of a response as normal, but it's definitely up there. It's encouraging that he got much less of the drug and still had a response and had no side effects (that's the best part!)
I'll keep you posted as to how long he sustains the count. The lower dose may be worth a try for some of the other kids who have bad reactions to the treatment. I'm sure we'll wait several months to have him checked again unless he decides he wants to skydive or something in the meantime!
Hope all of your kids are doing well!
Beth - mom to Brady (age 13, diagnosed 1/18/02)
Beth - mom to Brady (age 19, diagnosed 1/18/02) and Matthew (age 21)
