Hi, friends! I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in a few days. I had this silly idea that to write something, and to let you all know how I'm doing, something interesting had to have happened. But maybe it's interesting that nothing interesting has happened in the last few days. After all, the doctors do say that usually in the oncology clinic, interesting isn't good. Maybe each post doesn't have to tell some exciting story. What do you think?
Let's give it a shot. So, as all of the above implies, nothing particularly interesting has happened! I have had some wonderful visitors, and that is always really fun for me, but maybe not as interesting for you. I don't know - you tell me. I do feel like I'm getting stronger every day. I did my usual walk this evening with my friend Kristina, but with two additional laps! I even walked at a pretty good clip...not speed-walking or anything, but faster and with more stability than before. We also watched the State of the Union address, which I thought was wonderful. I really loved what Obama had to say about just putting the pettiness and partisanship aside and getting the job done.
In other news, there was a blip on the radar today in terms of the lookout for my impending immune system. I think I have about 40 neutrophils per some measurement of cells. I'm not really sure how they calculate it, but they always refer to this "absolute neutrophil count," or ANC, to determine the strength of my immune system. Just to give you an idea, I think a normal ANC is around 5000. Saif, any bits of wisdom you can add here? In any case, I'm still giving myself 2 shots per day of a medicine called GCSF to boost my white blood cell count. Hopefully it'll start kicking in soon, and I'll suddenly have some semblance of an immune system!
I'm still on track to go home mid-next week. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
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Hey Heather - glad to hear that things are all quiet on your Western front. So, the ANC is a count of a particular class of white blood cells that fight infection. A "normal" count is 1500 and anything less than 500 puts someone at serious risk of infection. The GCSF is designed to kick your new immune system (derived from your new marrow, which I will henceforth refer to as Dieter, an homage to its roots) to jack up its neutrophil production. Given that you had zilch a few days ago when your transplant happened, you're progressing along. That said, don't go licking any door knobs or anything. Oh, and as far as how neutrophils are counted. It's all automated. There's a little man in this machine who has thousands of fingers that he uses to count the neutrophils... It's magic. Really.
ReplyDeleteHahaha, thanks Saif! I knew I could count on you for a comprehensive, yet humorous explanation. I like the Dieter thing...is that because the bone marrow registry was started in Germany?
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