Are you kidding me right now?! Really?? This question is borderline humorous for me when not an emergent situation. Its a significant accelerator for a fight you don't want to be a part of otherwise. I say a fight...I mean that in response to being spoken down to or questioning my knowledge of my child or myself. If it's asked in a way that opens a door for awareness and true interest is shown then I'm happy to oblige. I think its pretty clear I don't mean that in a cocky way so I'll move on.
For my girls and myself one of the first signs that our neutrophil count is plummeting is severe fatigue. The yuck feeling is soon to follow complete with all over general aches. Our gum tissue tends to get puffy and sore and often will bleed without irritation of brushing. Usually if our gums and teeth ache at rest its typically indicative of a "bad drop". My definition of a bad drop is one that lasts more than 24 hours. If neutropenic fever is going to roar its ugly head then its around that point. Even the slightest elevation in temperature combined with an already neutropenic body yields a pretty miserable feeling.
The question at that point is how do I make Mileigh and myself feel well enough to function until our body responds? Motrin helps with typical inflammation. Hot baths are the best for the body aches. Making sure she gets several servings of "white blood cell increasing" foods during those days are vital to me. She loves broccoli so I tend to give her lots of that. I just steam and serve. We don't do raw anything while we are down due to the risk of bacteria living on the foods. I make sure that she's in bed on time and often up the vitamins. Mileigh is in 4k at the school at our church so they, thankfully, still take naps. Sleep is definitely key to providing our bodies with the best foundation of production. I make sure she's in bed on time. Some of these things prove kind of tricky when it comes to Mama... I don't always get to bed at a decent hour and "nap" is often spoken in a language I fail to understand. I try to increase the dark green and leafy stuff (cooked) and hot baths are my BFF! My goal is to exercise at least three days a week in an attempt to give my body the tools it lacks to fight off infection.
Precaution: we live a daily precaution for infection. If we aren't neutropenic we could be and when we are neutropenic the precaution demands attention so we just keep them in place at all times. I do laundry daily. I know full well when I get to Heaven Jesus will have an amazingly stocked closet just for me LOL... We only use our bath towels once and never wear clothing more than once between washes due to bacteria transfer from our skin. We believe in clorox wipes. Maybe I should check the stock market on that??? My house is typically on the chilly side. We are all pretty warm natured so it works but it's more than that. Bacteria loves warm places to grow. Makes sense when I think about where skin infections tend to flourish. I sneak healthy foods and "stuff" into the food I know my family will eat. Applesauce and butternut squash make great substitutes (smile).
I believe Neutropenia affects each person differently. We never know by looking at someone how they truly feel. Be that physically or emotionally. When you physically feel unwell much of the time it tends to take a severe toll on the way you feel emotionally as well. This can be said for much more than Neutropenia, in any form. There are so many of us who walk our daily lives with a smile on our face to not show the world the hurt. It's up to us to make sure people know we care. Obviously, we can't save the world, but we can give someone a reason to smile. I designed a southern belle t-shirt last year for Neutropenia awareness and in honor of my sweet Joeli. The quote on the back goes something like this: You may not see the struggle, but the fight within is real. Someone you pass today is in the throws of a struggle you may know nothing about. Their fight is real. Smile...you have today =).
I'm quite sure I've barely scratched the surface in regard to symptoms of Neutropenia so feel free to comment and add to. I love hearing from you! Be Blessed!
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