Monday, December 10, 2012

Round 4...

Here I sit in the chemo chair, waiting for the news on my levels.
It's a long 10 minute wait.  I have had this uneasy feeling all morning.  I know it's partly because  I never know what my levels are going to be or if I will get treated, and partly because if I do get treated I know what's in store for me. 
Round three was very difficult for me.  It was Thanksgiving week and I spent the whole week more nauseous than one might get on a sit and spin for 8 days straight!! I would get extremely nauseous just rolling from my back to my side.  I spent Thanksgiving alone, in bed with Sophia and Bailey at my side and choking back vomit. Nice visual huh? I was suppose to have Thanksgiving at my house and the whole family was suppose to come over for a BIG celebration. Well, the Monday 3 days prior to Thanksgiving, I got word my levels were down yet again.  I could still have Thanksgiving at my house just make sure to wear my mask and not be around anyone that was sick. I decided to cancel the Thanksgiving at my house to be on the safe side. Boy am I glad I cancelled it.
I had blood work drawn on the following Monday (last week) and I texted my doctor on Tuesday to see what my levels were. She called me and the word she used to describe my levels was...LOUSEY! :( My first reaction was "WHAT!!" I am not sure how this is possible.  As most of you know I have been fighting with my levels staying at a normal level.  The higher my levels are the better off I am. The lower my levels are the more prone to infection I am and the worse off I am. She told me come in right away we need you to get your Neupogen injections. 
For those of you that didn't read my previous posts, Neupogen injections is a series of three injections that help your bone marrow produce quicker. This is suppose to keep my levels at a normal level so I don't have to wear a mask all the time, or worry AS MUCH about catching something.  When my levels are low this means I don't have an immune system, if I were to catch something I wouldn't be able to fight it off, increasing my chances of death.
So you see my anxiety for that 10 minute wait at the beginning of every week. Today I got the news that my levels were yet again too low. To put it into numbers for you to better understand my WBC should be between 4.0-10.5 and my Nuetraphils (the baby WBC) between 2.2-4.8.  Last weeks Nuetraphils were .8!!!! That's the lowest they have been since I have started. As for this week, WBC is 2.5 and Nuetraphils are 1.03. 
When I talked to my doctor, she decided we are going to decrease my Cistplatin (the harsher of the two chemos) by 20%. This is the second time I have had to decrease the Cistplatin by 20%.   Basically what is happening is my Bone Marrow (the WBC) is being knocked down by the chemo, and the Neupogen injections are suppose to help rebuild the bone morrow, but aren't rebuilding the bone marrow as quickly as they like. Since I had the injections last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and today is only MONDAY, I should have levels OFF THE CHARTS. 
My doctor will be talking to Dr. Borst and seeing what he wants to do for further treatment.
The word right now is that since my body is having a hard time tolerating the Cistplatin drug, he might decide to change to another chemo drug. If that happens I will have at least 4 more added rounds.  For now I am getting Chemo this week days Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday then get one injection on Thursday and draw labs next Monday.  Those labs will show if the injection and the decrease of chemo is working, and if my body will be able to tolerate it.  If my body can, we hopefully will go about life as normal.  If I can't then they will change the drug and add 4 more rounds to my treatment. They are talking about still possibly adding 4 more rounds to the treatment either way. It will all depend on how my labs come back next Monday. Please say your prayers that my labs are good next Monday and they decide not to add the other 4 rounds. 
If they add the other 4 rounds, we will do a scan between now and before starting the next 4 rounds to see if there is any Cancer tumors present. 
Depending on the results to the scan will depend on the course of action.


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