Sorry I appreciate these ‘no go’ updates are getting rather repetitive now:-)…..once again the white blood cell count is too low today. It has now dropped to 1.04 (was at 2.6 last Wednesday) and so with this downward trend they still can’t administer the planned chemo.
On a more positive note they have given me something this time. It is a drug called Neupogen which is given to force the generation of white blood cells.
I can’t deny being more than a little frustrating that my body doesn’t seem to be bouncing back as I would like it to. Sharon (my chemo nurse today) was brilliant at really taking the time to sit and listen to my concerns. She explained that whilst on the one hand this is not common, it is also not uncommon, and does happen from time to time with some patients…’I shouldn’t worry about it’ was the message I was getting loud and clear.
She went on to remind me that even though in the first round of chemo I had no issues with my white blood cell, I was in a much better physical state (other than obviously having cancer at the time:-). Since then, my body has had to endure 2 major surgeries and is still trying to regenerate a liver, as well as cope with the second chemo. Bottom line is that it will just take me a bit longer to ‘find my feet’ with this chemo regime.
As I lie here writing this post the side effects from the Neupogen that Sharon mentioned, like back pain, are kicking in a bit….a good sign I hope as this should mean white cell are being ‘brewed up’ I assume. They want to leave it 48hrs before trying again and so I will be in again on Wednesday for my 4th attempt.
On the plus side I managed to ‘bank’ 30k this week:-)…..
Those damn red lights!!! Hopefully the meds will do the trick!!
Keep going Tom.
See you are putting the miles in on Strava. Already do more than I do in a month!