We have some! That is we have some Positive medical motion in my blood. Quick recap: norm hemoglobin = 140-160, norm platelets = 150-450, norm white cells= 4.0-7.0 of which neutrophils are my most important part, norm or really good being over 2.0. I expect you to remember those rough ranges and those 4 keys parts of blood as I will talk about them often – yes, some responsibility on your part! haha.
After chemo, and often before chemo because of the leukemia my blood none of the above are within normal range for me. Today is no exception as we have hemo=“83,” platelets=“16,” whites=“1.5,” no neutrophils back yet today but they are there, I can sense them.
(News Flash – My little – BIG Pharmacist just arrived in my room to tell me that I have 1 whole Neutrophil, that’s a count of 1.0!!)
Now these counts don’t look fantastic to you compared to the normal levels I just talked about, but let me tell you they are symbolic of one of the most beautiful movements I’ve ever experienced in my life, as within the past many days I’ve had a red cell transfusion due to hemoglobin near 70, I ‘ve had platelet transfusions as my count was 7, and my whites were hanging around 0.2-0.3 with no neutrophils at all.
After hemoglobin and platelet transfusions my levels increase slightly and it will sometimes be a day or many days until I need another one. This is the third day in a row that my platelets have held their own, and my hemoglobin sure seems to be doing the same. Both really good signs as the fewer transfusions I have the better, and the real medical motion I wanted to share is that yesterday my white count was 0.8 with 0.4 neutrophils, and today my whites have near doubled to a count of 1.5. Really good news in a really good direction.
You may have heard me use the term cautious/realistic optimism as that is really how I describe the nature of my optimism towards life. In essence I feel I’m always open to the good possibilities while at the same time being realistic about the not so good. So we’ll take today’s fantastic news and it will lift our collective spirits for the day, but I will say tomorrow is another leg of this journey entirely. While my counts have risen 2 consecutive days, there is absolutely nothing to insure that trend will continue. It is a very distinct possibility and one that I will certainly embrace. Perhaps another reason for my heightened sense of caution right now is that this is by far a personal world record for white cell recovery after chemo. Every time up to this point, it’s taken me roughly 40 days to recover white cells and neutrophils after chemo and my Transplant. Now granted those 40 days showed my whites and neutrophils at much higher marks
than they are today, but I don’t ever remember seeing any kind of motion like this on Day 26, which today is.
My temps continue to stay low and I continue to have daily meetings with Mr.Terrible, who I’ve definitely considered a name change for, to “Mr. Not-So-Terrible.” As he and I have gotten along so fabulously well that today we even cut 2 of my pre-meds. Kinda like taking away 2 levels of security before you go meet The Don, I still get the pat down and the once over from the big mean guy in the dark suit in the corner, but the more involved tests have been relaxed. I would suggest that Mr. Not-So-Terrible and I have developed a mutual respect and what certainly seems to be a constructive working relationship throughout the past 4 days.
Docs are optimistic and encouraged and we will watch the weekend’s blood for trends. You may or may not hear from me before then. Hope I caught some of you before you started your weekend.
Always…
Live Life. Love Life.
Geoff
