As I have said here previously, even before starting my chemo treatments I have felt just great. And after the treatments started I have not had any of the side effects that everyone hears so much about. I have felt so good that I wondered if the drugs were actually having any effect. Part of that is just my proactive personality - let's just get on with it is the way I approach most things. So I had three day of chemo, followed by 10 days without treatments, and then yesterday I was scheduled for another treatment. Since I had been feeling so great, by the time I arrived at Duke I was actually excited to be able to get another treatment started, and hit that cancer with another salvo of artillery. So you can imagine how shocked I was when they told me that I would not be able to have the treatment because my white blood cell count was so awfully low (.7 for those who understand such things). My immune system is practically non existent. I had thought that the chemo had run it's course and not a lot was going on, but in truth the battle inside was ragging on in high gear. I was given a shot to help rebuild my white cell count and now I just need to wait while my bone marrow reestablishes my white blood cells. Hopefully by next Wednesday, which is my next appointment, my white count will be suficiently high that they can resume treatments.
I have now decided that I will be more patient in the future. Some very smart people have invested a lot of time and effort in developing those treatment protocols and those periods of days, in between treatments, are there for good reason. And the frequent blood tests are designed to pick up situations like mine where an even longer break is required. The doctor indicated that my low count is not alarming or cause for undue concern, although I do need to be careful about exposure to germs or bacteria. So for the next week I think I am going to act like a hermit and stay out of sight.
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