Round 4, Week 1

Week 1 of Round 4 is coming to an end and I had no chemo this week.  It seems my ANC (Absolute Neutrophil  Count) is low...again.  It was also low during Round 3, Week 2, so I had no chemo that week either.  Very, very annoying to miss 2 weeks of treatment.

The ANC is a measure of the neutrophils - a type of white blood cell - present in the blood.  Neutrophils are part of the body's infection fighting team.  If my ANC continues to drop, I'll become neutropenic and you may recall that being neutropenic gets me a 'Put on a Mask and Go Directly to Hospital, Do Not Collect $200 If You Pass Go' card.  I've picked that card twice already and I'm not picking it again, thank you very much.

I think this has to do with my diabetes again.  At the end of Round 3, Week 2, my ANC had improved, but since I was due for surgery for the port, the docs decided to skip treatment - the chemo is a real ANC buster.  I think that was a good decision.  Since the surgery (did I tell you that was not so much fun?), my ANC has remained low.  My theory:  it always takes longer for me, with diabetes, to heal and recover.  It doesn't matter if it's a cold, the flu, a scrape on my knee - it just takes longer.  So I think my ANC is taking its time to bounce back.  My doctor disagrees.  He thinks my bone marrow was battered a little too much and needs more rest time.  I agree with that, but couple it with my diabetes theory.  Either way, I hope my ANC has improved by next Tuesday, when I'm scheduled for more lab tests and chemo.

Also on the agenda for next week:  my trip to Dana-Farber on Wednesday. My appointment starts at 11am, and I think I will be there until perhaps 3pm. More blogging to come!

One more agenda item for next week:  Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals is Monday and Game 7 (there will be a Game 7!) on Wednesday.  Both games are on NBC at 8pm.  Go Bruins!

New to Google blogger:  on the right side of this page you will find a new 'gadget' called Follow By Email.  Please enter your email address there to receive an announcement of when this blog is updated. In a week or so, I'll be deleting the Google Group I created that announced my blog updates. The Google Group was a convenient way to send updates before Google created this new gadget, but my daughter Sarah mentioned that sometimes I forget to send an update message.  Oops!!