Remember that movie?
Each week about 2 hours before The Cowboy’s round of chemo he heads up to have his blood tests done so that’s where we started at 7:00 AM today. He’s feeling better today but of course it’s time for the dreaded chemo treatment.
Then it was off to radiation followed by a trip to the pharmacy to pick up a medication refill.
By 9:00 AM The Cowboy vitals were all taken and recorded with a total loss now of about 8 pounds.He’s now over the 2% loss that they allow so I’m sure we’ll hear about that tomorrow at Dr. P’s regular appointment.
We’ve all questioned the 2% because a lot of us, retired seniors especially, have at least 10-15 pounds that we would gladly shed and still remain healthy. At least The Cowboy and I are in that category.
However, these specialists have the expertise and experience so we try to heed their warnings. We’re assuming that The Cowboy’s appetite will continue to wane after the treatments are done and in order to help the healing process and to combat other illnesses he must maintain his weight.
Settling in to our assigned room the nurse came in and advised that the chemo session was cancelled for today because of The Cowboy’s slightly low platelet count. Platelets are the part of the blood that helps it to clot and this is a very typical reaction to certain chemo drugs.
The normal count is 100,000, The Cowboys reading was 88,000 with 20,000 being the number that causes concern.
Once we heard the word ‘cancelled’ it only took a couple of minutes to quickly saddle up and all you could see was our dust as we headed out of there.
Chatting on the way home The Cowboy mentioned that he’s been sleeping a lot lately and that maybe the fatigue was causing the low count – but could it be that the low count could be causing the fatigue? I told you we analyze the heck out of everything!
After we arrived back home I called Dr. S’s office with some concerns. I asked if there was anything we should be doing to bring the platelet count back up. The very pleasant nurse, with The Cowboy’s report in front of her, assured me that it wasn’t low enough to cause any concern so no need to worry about it. The cells will recover themselves in time.
It’s also highly unlikely that they will schedule an additional round of chemo to make up for today’s cancellation – which was another of our concerns with being so close to the final treatment date.
I finished up this post last night about 10 or so but before publishing, walked over to my Princess couch and analyzed (yet again) if I had included everything that I wanted to say today. I rested on my Princess couch, tipped over and promptly fell asleep.
Thanks again for joining us. Make it an awesome day!
Princess, I can understand why you fell asleep. My analysis is that you are probably more exhausted than you allow yourself to believe. Cowboy is certainly lucky in one respect and that is having you there to support him and maintain a positive outlook. What an inspiration you both are. Hope Cowboys's platelette count recovers quickly. Glad he doesn't have to do a "make-up" on that last chemo treatment. God Bless.
ReplyDeleteSharon, my little grand niece had many skipped chemo sessions because of low platelets, but hers went down so low (I think my sister said under 10) that she required blood transfusions. So, I guess it is a common side effect of the chemo. She still has a long road ahead of her.
ReplyDeleteLike Donna, I can just imagine how exhausted you are. I smiled when you said you saddled up and made dust--you were like kids getting an unexpected day off from school--and no "make up day".
You really are an inspiration as you continue to face this with a sense of humor. My thoughts are never far from you and Ron, Sherry and David, Nan and John, and now Sandie and Jim. I really care about all of you.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
ReplyDeletea time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Today is a day for you to "dance"...enjoy.
KLM
I know everybody's experience is different but I am so grateful you post your experience so I at least have some idea of what we will be facing. You just have no idea how much that helps me. I wish I had your ability to blog about your experience but I struggle with that. Guess because I've always been a private person and I've always handled whatever comes up quietly and without help. So that makes me doubly grateful to you.
ReplyDeleteYou know, it seems to me that you are telling me to be sure to get plenty of rest. Sounds like I had better encourage you to do the same. My prayers continue to surround both of you.
ReplyDelete