Lanie still has a headache this morning, and she had another fever last night. She has not gotten much sleep since she was awoken at 4 a.m. for blood work. The phlebotomist had a hard time finding a vein, which is ridiculous. She has not had problems with others coming in to take blood.
The doctor feels that Lanie’s headaches, fevers, vision problems, and hearing are an effect of leukemia crossing the blood-brain line. Lanie will have to go through a lumbar puncture procedure Friday. The doctor will pull spinal fluid to be tested for blast cells. Chemo meds will be put into the spinal fluid during the puncture so that leukemia isn’t introduced into the area while pulling fluid out.
The reason the doctor is waiting until Friday to do the lumbar puncture is due to Lanie’s low platelet count. Her platelets need to be at least a 100. They have been in the 20s and 30s, and the last few times they’ve administered platelets, Lanie had a reaction to them.
If the spinal fluid is positive for leukemia, an Ommaya will be placed in Lanie’s head. The Ommaya reservoir is placed by a neurosurgeon. Lanie would be put to sleep, and the procedure takes about an hour and a half. But we won’t know whether it needs to be done until after the spinal fluid is tested.
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I am so thankful I found this thread – as I can now know how things are going with Lanie. This is Brittany’s Dad – David – and I want you to know that Lanie is in our prayers and thoughts. As we are “local” please let me know if there is anything we can do to help. It’s easy to tell she is one tough kid and her beauty shines through.
Thank you. If you could share her Go Fund Me link with everyone, everywhere, and email even, I would be very grateful. They need a lot more to help them with past, present, and future expenses. https://www.gofundme.com/medical-fund-for-lanie. Again, thank you very much.
♥️
Back at ya!