Last chemo day (possibly): Got up, took the dog for a walk, did exercises, meditated briefly and listened to “Unapologetically Episcopalian” hymn.
Stopped off at Ralph’s with Joel on the way to chemo to pick up donuts to celebrate last day.
The woman next to me had serious anemia from her chemo. My oncologist came out and talked to her (but not to me); it sounded as if she was going to be admitted to the hospital (across the street from my oncologist’s office and chemotherapy place) and get a blood transfusion.
My blood counts were better than that. After six months of first chemo then radiation then chemo, my hematocrit is just barely below range (so barely below range that the chemo nurse didn’t even point it out to me as low, though I could see it marked as such on the chart); I expect I’ll have more energy as it bounces back. My white blood count and absolute neutrophil count are also somewhat low (lower relative to normal than the hematocrit, but still at a level that the chemo nurse said was, particularly given that I’m finishing chemo and should bounce back quickly afterwards, only a little low, not seriously low).
Here are the actual low counts:
HCT: 36.7%
WBC: 2.0 K/uL
MPV: 8.2 fL (this is a slightly low mean platelet volume, but my platelet count, which under normal circumstances runs so high that the Red Cross loves me as a platelet donor, remains solidly within normal range – the nurse didn’t flag this one to me, and I don’t think I have to care about it)
NEUTRO abs: 1.3 K/uL
LYMPH abs: 0.5 K/uL
I have an appointment with my oncologist on Wednesday, October 3, in the morning, and I am supposed to get a CAT scan and find out whether I will need any maintenance chemotherapy (I am hoping not, since, though both the low white blood count and the neuropathy are mild, they get worse with each round).
I have had a headache all day, a common chemo day side effect for me (and not common otherwise), and I’ve been tired, but otherwise OK. I took the dog for a second walk in the park, and read a few chapters of a book about Cleopatra that a friend from my Quaker Meeting loaned me (mostly read them at the chemo therapy place, but a little more at home as well). I’m more than halfway through that book.
Then I looked at my sample ballot and tried to figure out who I am going to vote for on down ballot races. I may do another post later about those.
Time is such a relative factor in our lives. To me, it appears that you just informed us of your diagnosis and need for chemotherapy. I suspect that it appears to be a far longer period of time for you. Congratulations on having made the trip this far in good shape.
Yeah, it feels like a far longer time for me. As the theme song from “The Big C” says, “Do I get a medal for surviving this long?”
Darn, embedding that just made it vanish. Youtube link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxZL0LIxK-Y
My good Lynn (and all others),
All videos which can be embedded in Alexandria cannot be embedded: one merely posts the URL of the video on a separate line.
H. M. Stuart
Alexandria