Post-chemo update

I had an appointment with my oncologist this morning, to see where my blood counts are (two weeks since my last and final chemo). My white blood count is low (no surprise since I didn't do the neupogen shots with my last chemo). My red blood counts are still low (anemic), although a little higher than last time which is great news. He had done extra tests to see if my iron or B12 or something else was a problem, but nothing showed up. He feels it is all just caused by the chemo and will come up on its own.

I really ran low on energy on the weekend, to the point that my legs felt really heavy and hard to move. I'm just waiting for the energy to come back now so I can start a more regular walking routine.

Looks like radiation will start on Sept 28th, but no confirmation yet. I'm also waiting for the appointment to get my port removed.

Coffee tastes good again...

Chemo # 6 - last one done

First the happy dance:


and some more happiness:





















and no neupogen shots required!

Chemo is behind me now - just need to recover so I can really celebrate in a week or two. I actually made it through them all (there was a while there I really wanted to quit - after # 3 and # 4 especially). Brad came with me to each treatment, and got me through the bad days (except when he was at the lake working on the cabin, then my sister and mother-in-law and boys got me through). And all my friends are so good with walks, baking, phone calls, etc.

With my low hemoglobin, they say to keep walking, but just to listen to my body and go slow. I really only notice the racing heart when I walk up the stairs. They'll put in my referral to radiation, but they may want to wait 6 weeks to start instead of 4. Similar with the port removal - they won't do it while my counts are low (and the wait right now is over a month anyway).

So I will just lay low (and call all of my friends who want to go for walks).

Chemo is a 'go' for Friday

Met with the oncologist today. My hemoglobin has dropped lower (to 88; normal is 120 to 160), but we are going ahead with the chemo. As much as I'm dreading it, I really didn't want to delay it. I will be glad to get it behind me. Once I recover from this one, chemo is done, done, done!

And what I've learned: Hemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body's tissues and returns carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs. A low hemoglobin is referred to as anemia. I am anemic.

My symptoms are that I'm tired and my heart starts pounding at the smallest amount of activity. It's nothing too terrible, just means I'm on the couch a lot more. They've warned me to get up slowly because I may get dizzy, but that hasn't happened yet. Since the anemia is caused by the chemo, there is nothing I can do (other than to ensure I am eating normally, including protein). They will schedule me back for more bloodwork in 3-4 weeks to check it again.

I think if it causes problems, they can do a blood transfusion. He also mentioned shots that can get your body to generate more hemoglobin, but I really don't want to go there!

It was left undecided whether or not I should be doing the neupogen shots following this chemo (to get my white count back up quicker). I was hoping it was a 'no', but I will find out Friday morning.

That's it for an update - one more day to enjoy before chemo...