Day 5

Every morning I have blood drawn and am given my "counts" for the day - the levels of cells and cellular products my doctors watch to monitor my progress through therapy.  I decided to begin including these values in my posts.  Here is a brief explanation:

• Hemoglobin (Hg) - The total amount of the oxygen-carrying molecule found in red blood cells.  Given as grams per deciliter (0.1L) of blood.  Normal is 13.3-17.7 g/dL, mine usually hangs around 11 g/dL.  Low values cause sleepiness.
  
• Total White Blood Count (WBC) - The absolute number of white blood cells circulating, given as an integer times 10^9 cells per liter.  Normal is 4.0-11.0 x 10^9/L.  Low values indicate a compromised immune system, high values indicate current infection.
  
• Platelets (P) - Absolute count of the blood-clotting agent, given as an integer times 10^9 platelets per liter.  Normal is over 100 x 10^9/L.  If the platelets are too low (<10 x 10^9/L) blood won't clot and a transfusion is necessary.  If it is too high (>500 x 10^9/L) clots can form spontaneously.
  
• Absolute Neutrophil Count (absN) - a count of neutrophils circulating, given as an integer times 10^9 cells per liter.  Normal is 1.6-8.3 x 10^9/L.  The lower this number, the less able my body is to fight infection.  Anything <1.0 x 10^9/L is considered neutropenic.
  
• Creatinine (C) - A chemical biproduct filtered by the kidneys, given in milligrams per deciliter.  Normal is less than 1.25 mg/dL.  I need to stay under 2.0 mg/dL to be eligible for marrow transplant.

My counts for 12/27:
Hg 8.6
WBC 2.0
P 62
absN 3.0
C 1.31

Tonight I received my last dose of chemo.  Still haven't felt much nausea.  Eyes remain poor and glucose continues to be well controlled.  My temperature is consistently normal (which means no uncontrolled infection), my blood pressure down (I had difficulty with that last time), and my percent oxygen saturation in my blood is always around 100% (meaning my lung is efficiently exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide.  This would be down to 90% or lower if I was struggling with a pneumonia). My hemoglobin is down today so I felt tired, but my doctors aren't surprised that it's dropping.  Platelets, red blood cells (and thus hemoglobin), and white blood cells are all produced from the same stem cells, and all three will drop due to the chemotherapy.  I'm also constipated but my appetite remains well.  I guess I'll just keep cramming it in.