Red Cells and White Cells and Platelets, Oh My!

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 12.2 13-17 ^ Platelets 176 140-375 ^ ANC 3470 1800-8300 v Ferritin 1060 My goal <1000 v CD4 Cells 240 My goal > 200 For most of our marriage, Jill and I have perpetuated a tradition (habit?) that I brought into our union. Once upon a time in the mid 1970s, I had a side hustle working for a professor at my dental school alma mater, the University of Oregon Dental School (UODS)*. My main gig was trying to establish a private dental practice in the suburbs of Portland. I had been a top student in dental school, but I had labored under the false illusion that learning to do dentistry well was the primary requisite to executing a successful business delivering dental care. Little did I know at the time that knowing virtually nothing about business practices might hamstring my attempts to keep a business afloat, no matter how good the product of said business might be.  And that brings me back to the side hustle. During the phas...

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 11.5 13-17 v Platelets 161 140-375 v ANC 3610 1800-8300 v Ferritin 1121 My goal <1000 v CD4 Cells 240 My goal > 200 ^ Well, well, well. At first glance the Box Score looks a little disappointing, and to be honest, it is. On the other hand, it is quite easily explained. Two weeks prior to these labs, I had my first Therapeutic Phlebotomy, or in other words, I had a pint of the red stuff drawn out of my circulatory system. One would therefore, I suppose, expect that blood count...

BOX SCORE Hemoglobin 13.1 13-17 ^ Platelets 192 140-375 ^ ANC 3850 1800-8300 ^ Ferritin 1231 My goal <1000 v CD4 Cells 192 My goal > 200 v The observant reader will immediately notice that there have been additions to the Box Score. Of course, I didn't need to say that, because all of my readers are intelligent, observant, witty individuals. That's why I hardly need to mention that I introduced a new word to the lexicon in the post titled "Zeugma ." Therefore, today I am having a Pop Quiz. To Wit: Pop Quiz Answer the following multiple choice que...

Unexpected consequences can be rather scary. On the other hand, they can also be rather sweet. In case I haven't mentioned it before, leukemia was not my first cancer. In 1996, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. Unlike my journey through leukemia, the road back to robust health from colon cancer was a one and done. Fortunately, I had watched all the Public Service Announcements on TV as a kid, and when the telltale sign of CC (blood in the stool) reared its ugly head, I hied myself to the doctor very early. He ordered a sigmoidoscopy (a kind of junior colonoscopy that focuses on the sigmoid colon near the tail end of the colon).  Being naturally curious and having a background in a health science, I asked to watch the monitor during the procedure. Eww, right? Well I have also watched my own knee surgery among other things, and somehow I am able to disconnect my mind from the fact that it is my body that is being invaded and view the proceedings like a medical student sitting in the...

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 13.1 13-17 ^ Platelets 192 140-375 ^ ANC 3850 1800-8300 ^ "The young woman, feeling she had been thoroughly humiliated, left  in a huff and a pink Cadillac." This is an example of zeugma (pronounced zoyg-muh). Whogma? Zeugma! The word comes from a Greek vowel meaning "to join." The idea is " the use of a word to modify or govern two or more words usually in such a manner that it applies to each word in a different sense. (as "opened" in "opened the door and her heart to the stray kitten") " The Merriam Webster Dictionary goes on to state: " Zeugma, like...