Blood Test Day

The short story is... The results were good.

Now for the Brooke version.. Or the long story!!

I asked Jasper on the drive in if he was ok with everything, and he said "yeah, why?" totally oblivious of the fact that I had been awake since 4am predicting disastrous results and bottoming out platelet counts...
I don't know why I get stressed, but I always do.
I think it might be the fear of the unknown.. but knowing what could come at the same time.
FA parents talk about the ticking time bomb..
Waiting your turn in line for the inevitable.
Maybe that's why I get scared. I am wondering if we have moved up in the line, then getting scared that we have moved up, and who has already hit the head of the line.
It really doesn't bear thinking about. It is scary, and I try to not think about it...
Well, once every 3 months. My little brain and heart can take that.
Just.

Jasper was scheduled to start Tee Ball Camp today. It is 4 hours a day for 4 days, and he did it last school holidays, and LOVED it!
I had told the Camp people that he would be late, as it starts at 9am, and his appointment for bloods was at 9.15am.
We were at the hospital for AGES!!! by the time we got out, it was 11.30. Jasper still wanted to go to Camp and join in for the last hour, so we did - it was on the way home anyway!

Ok, so below are the blood counts we mainly track..
The number in brackets is considered the normal range.
The number after is what Jasper's count is.

Haemoglobin (115-155) 132
White Cell (4.5-14.5). 4.8
Platelets. (150-400) 128
Red cell. (4.0-6.0). 3.73
MCV. (75-92). 102
Neutrophils. (1.5-8.0). 1.68

The haemaglobin carries oxygen from the lungs into the body, and the carbon dioxide out of the body back to the lungs.

White cells are part of the immune system. They defend the body against infectious disease and foreign materials.

Platelets help clot the blood and are part of the healing process. This is one of the main indicators as to when we would head to a bone marrow transport.

Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell in our body. It is about 1/4 of our blood. It carries oxygen into the body, and is rich in haemaglobin.

MCV (Mean Cell Volume) indicates the size of the red blood cell. A higher than average number (which Jasper always has had) can indicate an insufficient number of cells, and often insufficient haemaglobin content per cell. It can also indicate how stressed the marrow is.

Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell. They are an essential part of the immune system. They are one of the first responders to inflammation, and are the reason that your pus has a yellowish/whiteish colour (yummo!).

Ok, so there's your lesson for the day!!
Jaspers counts are a good lot, on the whole.

There are some "out of range" numbers, like MCV, platelets and red cells, but they are barely out of range, and for a FA kid, the numbers are pretty spectacular.
I just need to keep telling myself that.. GREAT NUMBERS GREAT NUMBERS. but there's a voice also saying that he is not just a FA kid to me, he is MY kid. (none of them are just a FA kid to me, they are all someone super special, and unique.)

At least I can sleep tonight knowing there is nothing for me to worry about with my boy and his blood. Other mums are not so fortunate. Ok, long story over.

Thanks for reading.

Brooke