Thursday, May 7, 2015

Follow-up Appointment for 1st Treatment

5/7/15 – Today I had my first follow-up checkup since my treatments last week. I have been feeling a little tired and I have had a nagging cough. While driving to the appointment I made a prediction to my wife that my platelets would be a little low. Well, sure enough my counts were pretty low across the board.
  • My platelet count was 6. The normal range for platelets is between 130 and 400
  • My white blood cell count was 0.6. The normal range for white blood cell is between 4.0 and 10.8
  • My neutrophil count was 0. The normal range for neutrophil is between 2.5 and 7.0

Based on these counts and my nagging cough Dr. Goy had me get a chest CT and receive an infusion of platelets. Dr, Goy put a rush on the CT results and he was able to find that the scans showed nothing that he was concerned with. He did ask me to return on Tuesday, May 12th to recheck my counts and get another infusion if necessary.

On a happy note, my trip to my Goddaughter’s wedding went well with no issues. I was so glad I could be there for her and her family.

So this is just the beginning of what will be a long road. Having low counts is just part of the process. It is certainly not something that should get me down, discourage me or get overly worried about. Within the next couple of weeks all will be normal again and I will be getting ready for my second cycle. I have always said that to survive the long haul it is best to not get too high, or to get to low. At the same time it is important to keep positive and never give up. It is my attitude, healthy mind, inner peace and faith in God that will get me to a successful outcome.

The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.
Psalm 29:11

More to come…


http://mantlecell.blogspot.com/

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rich,
As always, you are in my prayers.
Joanne Ploch

Rich Franco said...

Hey Joanne, Thank You for the prayers and support you have given me over the years. Enjoy your day with your awesome family. Happy Mother’s Day