Sunday, August 14, 2011

home now


Dear Chemo 13:

Sorry for not posting Friday, but I was blue. I didn’t actually turn blue; I was in blue flunk – which is different than seeing red, or turning green with envy.

Anyway, I am home after busting out of the bone marrow unit Friday

Quite a bit to think about. My numbers were still kind of low Friday, so they topped me of with two units of tasty O + and and one bag of platelets and sent me on my way. I feel like I consume more blood than Eric Northman (from the TV show True Blood).

Anyway we have arrived an unexpected place in this cancer journey.

  • Þ    If my numbers don’t bounce back, I can’t take the next chemo;
  • Þ   My platelets have been dropping off for a month from the cumulative effects of the chemo. (geez I feel like I’m listing facts for a staff study);
  • TThere  is no telling when the platelet #’s will bounce back – some patients require months for the body to repair itself; other bounce back quickly


AND HERE ARE THE BIGGIES

            My cancer is in remission.
            All other health functions look good
            I feel okay
            I am incredibly handsome (okay not really)

As it takes longer and longer for my body to recover from the Hyper R-CVAD chemo, how much longer can I go until the time between blocks makes the treatments ineffective? In other words, is there a maximum time between blocks? Do we move from a 20-day cycle to a 30-day cycle? Is that possible/desirable? Do we drive on until the time between rounds becomes ridiculous? Do we do nothing (which is always an option) and see what happens?

My doctor and I have chatted and the one thing we know is remission gives us some wiggle room to weigh options.

The other thing is this platelet thing could turn around tonight and then it’s off to chemo.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

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