December 17, 2008

8 Days until Christmas!

Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
3 Dec------92----5.0------4,400-------9.5--------183------------N/A
4 Dec------93----4.4------3,800-------9.2--------196------------N/A
5 Dec------94----3.5------3,400-------9.3--------170------------N/A
6 Dec------95----3.9----Unknown----9.9--------175------------N/A
8 Dec------97----2.9------2,600------9.8--------106------------N/A
11 Dec-----100---0.3----------0-------9.1----------31--------------N/A
15 Dec-----104---0.4----------0-------7.8-----------2-------1 Unit Platelet
16 Dec-----105---0.4----------0-------7.3---------3--1 Blood & 1 Platelet
17 Dec-----106---0.6--------168-------9.0-----------1-----1 Unit Platelet

Last night I took 2 more oxys for pain & tried to get Zack from Misty's room, he was watching the Polar Express. Needless to say it was not over so he did not want to go to bed. By 9 it still was not over but I made him go to bed so I could. I think I was passed out by 9:10 at the latest.

There was a winter storm advisory all night & we awoke this morning to everything coated in ice outside. It was very pretty but also quite dangerous. Marc took off work to take me to the hospital & I am so grateful, I would of had a really hard time driving that far with the weather & my fatigue after infusion issues. We left for my Dr. appointment at 7:45am & Marc was grumpy because he wanted some McDonald's & said we didn't have time to get any. I told him the weather was bad, go through the drive through if were late were late. I wanted McDonald's so bad it smelled so good but my mouth hurt so bad I knew I couldn't eat it plus I did not want to have any food stuck in my teeth when the Dr. looked at my mouth.

We made it to my appointment on time. The Highway was clear & we managed to avoid all traffic delays.
My Dr. ordered a platelet infusion & took a look at my mouth & ordered me some more magic mouth wash to help numb the pain of it. I thought one the hematomas in my mouth was starting to look infected but she said it is just mucosa. I also expressed my concerns to her about my neutraphil counts this past week & she said some people Nader for 10-14 days & not to worry about my counts being so low for 5 days in a row, I was fortunate to bounce back so quickly the first few times. She gave some new prescriptions for pain among other things & told me I need to keep being careful especially avoiding sick people & wait it out my counts should start coming up soon.

My Platelets came back in at less than 2, I asked so I have 1 then & they all kept saying less than 2. I found it a little humorous, because they would not say 1 or 0 because according to the nurse I couldn't possibly have 0 platelets. My ANC was 168 which is up from 0, so I got a little excited about this until the nurse said anything under 500 is like having 0 because you are severely neutrapenic. Now that I look back at my results for the past 4 days I probably did have a neutraphil count but it was so low they just told me 0, the ANC is calculated as a percentage of your white blood cell count & your band & segmented neutraphils.
They moved us to an infusion room after my Dr. saw me. The nurse asked me if I got pre-medicated & I told her yes so she gave me 2 Tylenol & 1 Benadryl. Marc said what do you need that for & the nurse told him it helps prevent reactions to the infusion. Marc can be real sarcastic when he wants to be, he said yeah right cetametaphin & Benadryl what does that prevent. I said rigors the nurse said also fever & hives & that it can get even worse. That shut him up for a minute. I got real tired real quick from the Benadryl, my Platelets take a little over 30 minutes to infusion at the James because they run them through with a pump. I was real out of it when Marc woke me up.


Because the weather was so bad last night I told MSgt Bill Larue not to come out, I did not want him to get in an accident, so we met at Rooster's in Columbus for lunch. We had such a nice visit. My ability to taste food has been off & on, I was happy because I could actually taste the food today & it was good. It was so good I took Bill's last cheese stick, he said some things never change, it was real funny. Bill got both Marc & I Harley Davidson T-Shirts from Frankfurt, he gave me a sweatshirt from the Alps, he got Zack a cool Ausfart T shirt & the kids Kinder eggs (Chocolate eggs with toys inside, they are really neat). He brought back 2 cases of wine from Germany & gave us a bottle of Muhlmichel Schlosshof Kirchheim Cuvee, it is supposed to be a fruity red wine that is low in nitrates so you don't get a hangover headache. So I am looking forward to having a glass of that with Misty, she like wine. As usual Bill outdid himself, he is such a good friend & a real sweet heart when he wants to be, now if I could just find him a good woman...


My Dr. told me earlier today that I need to quit waiting so long to take my pain meds. By the time we got home I was starting to have some healthy bone pain so I took an Oxy. Katie was home & got her chores done, out of all the kids she does her chores the best, its weird because she is real good about cleaning everything, but when it comes to taking care of herself she does not put the effort in. I keep waiting for her to snap out of the phase she is in. I notice if Paige helps her do her hair & pick out her outfit she is really into it but if she has to do it on her own she does something quick & simple.

As soon as Zack walked in the door I knew he did not have a white day, it was written all over his bottom lip that was sticking out. He said he got on yellow ( the middle of the color chart). He said he laughed at a kid during the concert. Marc took his computer time away & I was just happy he didn't kick or hit someone. He has been doing really well since his incident at the beginning of the month. Since I have talked about Zack & his color chart so much I thought you all might like to see what we are talking about.

Misty is cooking a Spam concoction tonight for dinner it actually sounds pretty good. Paige has cheerleading & Brandon has wresting practice tonight. I plan to just sit back & relax. Hopefully my counts will start going up soon so I won't be stressing over them so much.

Lynn you are awesome, I know we talked earlier today on the phone but I just thought I would tell ya again I love you. You always post a comment for me on the Blog & you have been so supportive through all of this. The Alpaca Hat is going to be awesome I know it, I would have never thought of that & I think it is so cool that she is going to put some Mojo into it.

Aunt Bonnie, I tried to call Aunt Eileen a few months ago when I first got sick & I left a message but never heard back. I have a feeling now maybe that was not her phone. If you could please e-mail me her phone # I would appreciate it.