As usual, I was awake during the wee hours of the morning, ruminating on one thing or the other, but not arriving at any particular solution to solve the Middle East peace thing, so I watched some Netflix and the day began as usual with its routine data gathering on me, the lab rat. My PICC line has been inside my chest now for almost three weeks, so over time, it has accumulates some fun fibery goodness on the end which doesn’t impede chemicals going in, but hasn’t been so generous about allowing blood back out for lab analysis (read: not a danger – the catheter is chemically flushed and cleaned periodically). That made it necessary for someone from the blood lab to come up with needle in hand to take the blood. Everyone knows the lab people are typically the most skilled phlebotomists around. After all, that’s the lion’s share of what they do…and this guy was no exception. He was good and I was not hurting!
While labs are nothing to write home about, it kind of is today. When the infectious disease people came up, they were once again happy to say that nothing was found as the culprit of my fevers and that my blood cultures revealed a bit fat doughnut of information. In other words, nothing was growing there and my blood was clean…except that more than clean, it was showing that my body is coming back on line. In fact, they suspect the sole reason for my fever was my body's way of showing that it was re-booting white cell production. So, antibiotics and antivirals will come off. My white count doubled for the second day in a row. The important thing to note here is that neutrophils, and the key element in fighting infections in our white cells, are also on the rise. Neutrophil counts are a percentage of the overall white blood cell count. Once those neutrophil levels rise above 500 is when yours truly gets to check out of this here Hotel California! And that, dear ones, is what not one, but three doctors were suggesting would happen in the next day or so!
Can I get an amen!?
It is Sunday, even if it is Utah and most people here only use the word as a period to a prayer, I did spent nearly 20 years south of the Mason-Dixon line and there, that word is usually an affirmation spoke with great gusto and frequency, regardless of the day of the week. And when my hematologist suggested it would likely be Tuesday, I think it’s safe to make that joyful noise!
I should point out that this is irrespective of the intrathecal (spinal) chemo I’m going to be oh-so-lucky to get tomorrow. Provided my counts continue to multiply as they are now, I can anticipate some temporary normality for a while. Big picture is that for the next three Mondays, I’ll be getting my spinal cord lanced with chemicals to ensure my brain and skull remain clear of the leukemic loveliness and once I have a bone marrow donor identified, I’ll likely have a 5-day inpatient stay for some less strenuous consolidation chemo. Then comes my denouement – the shiny new immune system. That’ll be pretty rough from all I’ve been told, but when we’re done, we should be done. From then, it’s a matter of making sure my body is being a good host and allowing this new system to make itself comfortable. ¡Mi cuerpo es su cuerpo! Sorta.
I’ve been told that since I’m such a Caucasian, that it’s likely that if my donor doesn’t come from the US, we’ll find someone in Germany, so if my speech becomes a bit clipped and precise after this, you’ll know why!
Be well, stay strong,
much love to you all!
Todd! Such great news! We are so happy to hear that things are definitely going in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteWe will keep praying for your continued good progress on this journey.
xoxo Carolyn and Don
AMEN, TODD! I am so happy things are looking up for you. I, too, love that corned beef and cabbage on St. Pat's Day even though I'm 100% Danish. So I made a corned beef in the crockpot and then used the same juice to cook the cabbage. Delicious! Greasy, yes, and my gallstone is kicking at me, but it was worth it.
ReplyDeleteI'm an old geezer, too, and I certainly remember '45's. Never heard the one you had by the Beach Boys, though. Course I wasn't really a big Beach Boys fan. . . my heart belonged almost solely to the Beatles; back in my day, you were either a Stones or a Beatles lover, the Stones lovers being a wilder set than the Beatles ones, little old sheltered me went with the Beatles. I always secretly hoped to marry Paul, although I thought John was the most brilliant of the four. Ringo? Feh . . . George was too quiet for me, but kinda sexy and mysterious.
Was/is it easy to get a bone marrow donor? I thought there was a long waiting list for that as for other bodily donations. I, too, have heard that is a rough process during which you will be extremely vulnerable to any infection, but I also have no doubt you will come through this with flying colors. You are in my prayers daily, my friend and in my heart and mind always. You are not alone although in those deep dark hours of the night (and I've had many of those), everything can look bleaker. One of my favorite quotes (Biblical though it is in origin) is "Weeping may tary for the night, but joy cometh with the morning." or something like that. It actually first heard it from the movie title JOY IN THE MORNING, a movie starring Richard Chamberlain (a major former heartthrob of mine) and Yvette Mimieux, and I've loved the quote ever since, although I don't think the movie was all that stellar. - Gentle hugs -