Did you ever have a nose bleed?

 Part of this journey I am on is about having the chemotherapy kill off my bone marrow, the source of blood cells, because the marrow is diseased and not doing its job correctly, Once the old, faulty marrow is gone, the body, miracle machine that God made it to be, will grow new marrow, and the idea is the new marrow will be like the kind the Lord put in there in the first place. It's kind of like rebooting the body's blood factory.

Of course, this kind of treatment couldn't be done, if the chemotherapy killed off the bone marrow and nothing else were done. Transfusions of the necessary blood elements to sustain life, during the time when there is no functional marrow, is critical to allowing my body to continue to provide oxygen to my tissues, provide protection from the environment and keep my blood from all leaking out. I marvel daily at how incredible my body is (no, I don't mean I'm an Adonis) as it continues to do what it needs to do, in spite of the assault of chemotherapeutic agents so toxic that the nurses wear what amount to hazmat suits when they are working with it. The medical staff simply supplies the things my body is incapable of producing during this transition phase, and the old bod takes over. It is truly miraculous. Thank you Lord!

Part of the stuff that needs to be artificially replaced is blood platelets. Their function, as you may know is to physically plug a leak in a blood vessel. (It's kind of like the old, old remedy for a leaky radiator on a car. Pour in some rice, which will swell up and plug the leak from inside.) When there are not enough platelets, the plugs are not totally effective. The last couple of days I have been having nose bleeds which are rare for me. Why? Not enough platelets! 

The accepted normal for platelet range is So we'll say normal platelet range is 140-375. According to my lab tests done this morning at 4AM (Oh, yeah the nights around here are one big party!), my platelet count was

You probably will notice (being the observant and scientific person that you are) that one of the very first things that happens when we have an injury is that the platelets are enlisted to help close the hole. 

So, now that you are all up to speed on the clotting cascade, there will be a quiz next period. Class dismissed.



Comments

  1. Bob SJuly 13, 2021 at 11:32 PM

    I love your attitude of gratitude Tom and your never ending sense of humor. I also learned something today teacher Tom about clotting. Good job. Donalynn

    ReplyDelete
  2. PapaAlanJuly 14, 2021 at 5:16 PM

    Thanks, I kinda understand the process of blood clotting now. But I have another process of my own going on The process of getting a headache from trying to understand that chart.😀 Regardless, I’m glad someone figured that out and they are healing you.
    Thank you for encouraging us with your positive outlook. Love you brother.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joy M.July 29, 2021 at 9:22 PM

    This is so amazing! And more evidence that we are not some cosmic accident that happened by chance. Could you imagine evolution trying to figure that sequence out by trial and error?! Oops! Forgot to trigger the platelets, bleeding out! Oh dear! Forgot to turn the clotting off, another one bites the dust! ~ Joy M.

    ReplyDelete

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