Well,
Friday's appointment wasn't nearly as long as I had planned.
*Note to self - I need to update this much sooner than 5 days later....slacker...*
I had gone in on Thursday for lab work, and completely forgot to check my blood levels, specifically my whites, reds and platelets, online. So, walking in to the appointment on Friday, I was slightly blind, which is fine. I mean, seriously - how many other people have the amazing luxury of being able to view their lab results a) within the hour, and b) online.
Anyways (apparently, this is going to be one of the winding, this-isn't-going-to-make-sense blog posts....sorry), I went into my appointment on Friday, only to find out that, while my reds, whites and ANC (absolute neutrophil count) were well within normal-for-me range, my platelets were not. Last week, they were at 60. On Friday, they were down to 52.
I was not happy.
The decision was made to hold my Erbitux off for a week, hopefully giving my bone marrow time to recoup my platelet count. I could have had chemo, as the generally understood cutoff is 50. But, while Erbitux doesn't reduce your platelet count significantly, any drop would mean that I couldn't have chemo *this* week, and as the plan was to restart the Xeloda along with the Erbitux this Friday, that isn't good.
I asked why my number keeps dropping. I asked a lot of questions. Basically, what I learned is that we know that my bone marrow is working. It rebounded my whites, ANC and reds as a result of the Neupogen shot I had two weeks ago, so it's definitely working.
Michelle's version of Bone Marrow 101: I asked how the bone marrow creates the cells, and why my platelets are having such a rough time recovering. I found out that your bone marrow makes general cells, and that there are mechanisms that, as the cells mature, trigger those general cells to become red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, etc. We know that the bone marrow itself is working - the bone marrow biopsy from late last year confirmed that. So, it appears that the mechanism that turns general marrow cells into platelets isn't quite working the way it needs to.
I asked why this is happening. It appears that this is still a result of the Temodar I was on. My numbers had started to recover, and then we hit my body with new chemo. This is not unexpected, and I am not in any danger like I was last year, when I landed myself in the hospital for 22 days.
The good news is that I feel fine. I'm not bruising or bleeding or anything that would lead us to believe this is a huge issue. I feel great. I'm doing all of the work around the house that I would normally do (making meals, cleaning up the house, laundry, etc.), and while my back is kicking up a little bit (to be expected, as I'm doing more than I have in a long time), I feel really good. My energy level is up, and I'm not having to take meds to keep me awake during the day anymore.
All in all, it wasn't a bad appointment. I got a free day, so Levi and I spent it together, running errands and just enjoying the time. We'll see what happens this week. I get blood drawn tomorrow, so I'll look and let you know how things play out. If all goes well, I'll go back on Xeloda and Erbitux on Friday, which will be a very good thing.
*Note to self - I need to update this much sooner than 5 days later....slacker...*
I had gone in on Thursday for lab work, and completely forgot to check my blood levels, specifically my whites, reds and platelets, online. So, walking in to the appointment on Friday, I was slightly blind, which is fine. I mean, seriously - how many other people have the amazing luxury of being able to view their lab results a) within the hour, and b) online.
Anyways (apparently, this is going to be one of the winding, this-isn't-going-to-make-sense blog posts....sorry), I went into my appointment on Friday, only to find out that, while my reds, whites and ANC (absolute neutrophil count) were well within normal-for-me range, my platelets were not. Last week, they were at 60. On Friday, they were down to 52.
I was not happy.
The decision was made to hold my Erbitux off for a week, hopefully giving my bone marrow time to recoup my platelet count. I could have had chemo, as the generally understood cutoff is 50. But, while Erbitux doesn't reduce your platelet count significantly, any drop would mean that I couldn't have chemo *this* week, and as the plan was to restart the Xeloda along with the Erbitux this Friday, that isn't good.
I asked why my number keeps dropping. I asked a lot of questions. Basically, what I learned is that we know that my bone marrow is working. It rebounded my whites, ANC and reds as a result of the Neupogen shot I had two weeks ago, so it's definitely working.
Michelle's version of Bone Marrow 101: I asked how the bone marrow creates the cells, and why my platelets are having such a rough time recovering. I found out that your bone marrow makes general cells, and that there are mechanisms that, as the cells mature, trigger those general cells to become red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, etc. We know that the bone marrow itself is working - the bone marrow biopsy from late last year confirmed that. So, it appears that the mechanism that turns general marrow cells into platelets isn't quite working the way it needs to.
I asked why this is happening. It appears that this is still a result of the Temodar I was on. My numbers had started to recover, and then we hit my body with new chemo. This is not unexpected, and I am not in any danger like I was last year, when I landed myself in the hospital for 22 days.
The good news is that I feel fine. I'm not bruising or bleeding or anything that would lead us to believe this is a huge issue. I feel great. I'm doing all of the work around the house that I would normally do (making meals, cleaning up the house, laundry, etc.), and while my back is kicking up a little bit (to be expected, as I'm doing more than I have in a long time), I feel really good. My energy level is up, and I'm not having to take meds to keep me awake during the day anymore.
All in all, it wasn't a bad appointment. I got a free day, so Levi and I spent it together, running errands and just enjoying the time. We'll see what happens this week. I get blood drawn tomorrow, so I'll look and let you know how things play out. If all goes well, I'll go back on Xeloda and Erbitux on Friday, which will be a very good thing.
Comments:
Joan Bardee said...
well,
the bone marrow lesson was interesting. my major take away is that you are
feeling well. yahoo!
January
22, 2014 at 5:20 PM
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