Whats an ANC and why yes she has a small one now :) :) :)

Today Avarie offically has an ANC. An ANC you ask? What is that? For all you who have not graduated medical school like myself, haha, an ANC stands for Absolute Neutrophil Count. Are you still confused, of course, even those who follow us really close where asking me today what that was and what it meant. Its ok, I honestly don't expect everyone to remember all of this, its just that I have to so I do. Neutrophil's are the part of your blood that are basicly your immune fighters. So for her to have an ANC means that she is starting to regrow her immune system. Her ANC is only .1 which is really really low for a normal person. But for someone who did not have an immune system it is a good start. Avarie has to have an ANC of .5 or 500 for three days in a row to be able to go home. Yes I said home. The word was actually brought up today, I can't believe it either. There is a chance that she may be going home in the near future. I hate that I just wrote that because I had to find some wood and knock on it really really hard. When they said that this morning I asked about Graft vs. Host, because so far Avarie has been doing great, only a mild skin rash that doesn't bother her at all, it just kind of comes and goes. I was thinking maybe we were going to be in the clear and we were getting off easy, but they burst my bubble on that and set me straight. I guess Graft vs. Host shows up more 1-3 months post transplant, hence the 100 days of intense follow up. It takes a while for the bone marrow to regrow completely and fully be able to attack her body, if its going to. But they did say that if she goes the first month with limited Graft vs. Host, it is possible that she will not get it severely. Usually the kids that get it the worst start during the first month. The Dr was quick to laugh and remind me though that since that is the norm, Avarie will probably do the opposite. She laughed and said that Avarie just hasn't read the book on how cancer and chemo is suppose to go and she's just has not followed the rules very well. I commented that perhaps that means she didn't read the part about getting Graft vs. Host and just won't get it. She thought I was really funny, but thought it was maybe possible, but she really doesn't expect that. She expects we will still see some Graft vs. Host to come.
When I came back to the hospital last night, I came back to a very shiny head and a little girl who is so full of energy she was sitting in the window sill and bouncing. I love seeing her feel so well, I can't wait to put this all behind us and just live normal again. I don't even know what normal is anymore, but I sure wish to relearn how to do it. I think I remember that I liked it.