2/24/09 - I had a follow appointment with Dr. Sebti (my infectious decease Doctor) and I also stop by the Cancer Clinic to have some blood drawn to check my counts.
Dr. Sebti said I was doing great. He felt that I no longer need to see him. He is a really nice guy buy I am OK with that.
My blood counts looked good today. WBC = 4.1 (within normal range), Platelets = 160 (within normal range), and my Hemoglobin = 7.9 (a little low).
The next big thing for me are my Scans (CT and PET).
More to come...
http://mantlecell.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Quick Update
2/16/09 - I had another follow up appointment today. My counts still look good. My WBC is 4.5 and my Platelets are 66.
2/17/09 - I went to work for the first time in a long while. I put in a full day. I was pretty tired when I got home but it felt great to be back at work.
I have a follow up with my infectious decease doctor on Tuesday, February 24th to make sure I continue to be on the right path for preventing future infections.
In addition, my PET and CT scans are scheduled for Thursday, February 26th.
I have yet another appointment scheduled for Monday, March 2nd to review my scan results.
I guess that means that the next 13 days will be really big for me.
More to come...
http://mantlecell.blogspot.com/
2/17/09 - I went to work for the first time in a long while. I put in a full day. I was pretty tired when I got home but it felt great to be back at work.
I have a follow up with my infectious decease doctor on Tuesday, February 24th to make sure I continue to be on the right path for preventing future infections.
In addition, my PET and CT scans are scheduled for Thursday, February 26th.
I have yet another appointment scheduled for Monday, March 2nd to review my scan results.
I guess that means that the next 13 days will be really big for me.
More to come...
http://mantlecell.blogspot.com/
Friday, February 13, 2009
A Happy Follow Up
2/13/09 – Most people hear that it is Friday the 13th and they fear that that will run into bad luck. I must say that my experience was very different. Today I had another follow up appointment to check my blood counts. My counts have greatly improved. First off my platelets are up to 39. Although this number still needs to come up, it is a level that allows me to be around other people without any concerns. More great news is that my While Blood Cell count is now 11.9. This is an excellent number…so good that I was taken off my 4 times a day IV antibiotics. Even better, this was what the doctors needed to see to be comfortable with removing my PICC Line. And YES, Dr. Feldman removed my PICC line today. This was a very pleasant surprise. I can not tell you how good it feels to have those tubes removed from my arm. She also said that I can begin to have a normal diet. In addition, if I promised not to over do it she gave me the go ahead to re-enter the general population. This means I could start going back to work a few days a week, I could go to Church without worrying someone may touch me, I could go to restaurants, and I could pretty much do whatever I feel like doing. The real key is that I will have to begin to rebuild my strength and endurance.
The next hurdle I have in front of me is my PET and CT scans. This will be in the next couple of weeks and will provide the final verification that I am still in remission. Once this is done I will be considered on maintenance.
In the meantime I have another follow up appointment on Monday, February 16th. They will recheck my blood counts again to make sure that they continue to head in the right direction.
Jeremiah 33:6 "Behold, I will bring you health and cure, and I will cure you, and will reveal unto you the abundance of peace and truth."
More to come…
http://mantlecell.blogspot.com/
The next hurdle I have in front of me is my PET and CT scans. This will be in the next couple of weeks and will provide the final verification that I am still in remission. Once this is done I will be considered on maintenance.
In the meantime I have another follow up appointment on Monday, February 16th. They will recheck my blood counts again to make sure that they continue to head in the right direction.
Jeremiah 33:6 "Behold, I will bring you health and cure, and I will cure you, and will reveal unto you the abundance of peace and truth."
More to come…
http://mantlecell.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Cycle 6/3B - 3rd Follow Up Appointment
02/10/09 – Today is day 16 of Cycle 6/3B and I had my 3rd follow up appointment. It ending up being a pretty long day> I arrived and the Cancer Center at about 10:30 AM where my blood was taken. When my counts came back there were again very low. My White Blood Count (WBC) was 0.8, My Platelets were 16, and my Hemoglobin (the protein molecule in red blood cells) was 6.9 (normal level is between 12 and 18). This all translated into me needing some transfusions today. Being I was going to be at the hospital most of the day I was also going to need to receive my IV antibiotics.
The IV antibiotics were given to me first. This ran for about a half an hour. Next I received a pre-med of Benadryl which ran about 15 minutes (I must add that this make me very sleepy). Then I received my platelets transfusion that ran about 40 minutes. Lastly, I received my blood transfusion which ran for 4 hours. By the time we got through everything it was about 8:30 PM. As I said above, this was a long day.
I am hoping that these transfusions are effective and get my counts up to where they are should be. My next follow up appointment is Friday, February 13th.
More to come…
http://mantlecell.blogspot.com/
The IV antibiotics were given to me first. This ran for about a half an hour. Next I received a pre-med of Benadryl which ran about 15 minutes (I must add that this make me very sleepy). Then I received my platelets transfusion that ran about 40 minutes. Lastly, I received my blood transfusion which ran for 4 hours. By the time we got through everything it was about 8:30 PM. As I said above, this was a long day.
I am hoping that these transfusions are effective and get my counts up to where they are should be. My next follow up appointment is Friday, February 13th.
More to come…
http://mantlecell.blogspot.com/
Friday, February 6, 2009
Cycle 6/3B – 2nd Follow Up Appointment
2/6/09 – Today I had another follow up appointment. My blood counts have pretty much crashed. My white blood cell (WBC) count is 0.5 and my platelets are 12. Based on this I was given a platelet transfusion to help give me a boost. Also with my WBC count so low I will need to keep away from people and germs as much as I can. There will be challenges with this being my youngest daughter Alli is sick with mononucleosis. I must say that nothing is ever easy.
In the spirit of wishful thinking, I asked two questions today.
The first being “When will I be able to rejoin the population?” The answer was “certainly not today. Once your counts have rebounded and you have had your scans we talk about it”. My personal guess is that I would be looking at early March but only time will tell.
My second question was “when can I discontinue the low microbial diet, that I have been on throughout my chemo, and begin to be on a regular diet?” I followed up the question with “is there any foods I can include in my diet that will help strengthen my immune system and blood counts?” The answers were basically common sense. I can start a regular diet when my counts have rebounded for good. As far as what foods I should include in my go forward diet, there is no magic answer. The best thing is to eat well balanced meals that include all kinds of fruits, vegetables, protein, etc…. The more variety the better.
My next follow up appointment is scheduled for Tuesday, February 10th.
More to come…
http://mantlecell.blogspot.com/
In the spirit of wishful thinking, I asked two questions today.
The first being “When will I be able to rejoin the population?” The answer was “certainly not today. Once your counts have rebounded and you have had your scans we talk about it”. My personal guess is that I would be looking at early March but only time will tell.
My second question was “when can I discontinue the low microbial diet, that I have been on throughout my chemo, and begin to be on a regular diet?” I followed up the question with “is there any foods I can include in my diet that will help strengthen my immune system and blood counts?” The answers were basically common sense. I can start a regular diet when my counts have rebounded for good. As far as what foods I should include in my go forward diet, there is no magic answer. The best thing is to eat well balanced meals that include all kinds of fruits, vegetables, protein, etc…. The more variety the better.
My next follow up appointment is scheduled for Tuesday, February 10th.
More to come…
http://mantlecell.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Cycle 6/3B Follow Up Appointment
02/03/09 – I had a follow up appointment with Dr. Goy today. My white blood counts already started to drop. They are at .8. A normal count runs between 4.0 and 12.0. Being I am in day 9 of my 21 day cycle this is a little early for this drop but there really isn’t any cause for concern as long as I do not run any fevers. My platelets have also dropped. They are at 37. Again there is no cause for concern. If they get much lower there is a chance they will want to give me blood and platelet transfusions. Dr. Goy would much prefer to see my body respond on its own.
I continue to be in IV antibiotic at home. The hope with these is to keep any infections away.
Once I get past my low white blood count (neutropenic) period the next big thing for me will be to have my PET and CT scans. This will give a status once and for all as to if I am still in remission and if this was indeed my last chemo cycle. Dr. Goy is very confident that I will get favorable results.
My next follow up appointment is scheduled for Friday, February 6th.
More to come…
I continue to be in IV antibiotic at home. The hope with these is to keep any infections away.
Once I get past my low white blood count (neutropenic) period the next big thing for me will be to have my PET and CT scans. This will give a status once and for all as to if I am still in remission and if this was indeed my last chemo cycle. Dr. Goy is very confident that I will get favorable results.
My next follow up appointment is scheduled for Friday, February 6th.
More to come…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)