What was I drinking?

 I awoke this morning with a parched mouth, a full bladder and a mild headache. It was as if I had had a couple too many at the pub. (Of course, I am speculating here, since I would never over-imbibe.) Getting into an upright position and drinking a cup of coffee has helped the headache to dissipate. As for the dry mouth, I'm told the hospital keeps the air in the oncology department very dry in order to reduce the risk of airborne infections. 

Every morning around three or four o'clock, the nurse taps me for some blood in order to check on my progress with blood counts and so on. The first thing I do, when I get up, is to check the lab reports (yes, I am a nerd) to see if I can see any progress and whether I am likely to tethered to Olive Oyl for those life-giving blood products I mentioned in yesterday's post. 

This morning, my hemoglobin count was at 7, unchanged from yesterday. My platelet count was at 10, unchanged from yesterday, and my ANC (absolute neutrophil count, a measure of my immunity and also of how effective the chemo has been) was at zero. What does all that mean? Beats the heck outta me! 

But here's what I think it means. The fact that my hemoglobin and platelets did not go down from yesterday is encouraging. Most days they go down, and when they reach a certain threshold, I get a transfusion. If they are steady, maybe I am at he point where the destruction of the sick cells that have been making unhealthy blood cells is complete and I will begin to see the numbers rise, indicating new, healthy blood cells are growing. The fact that my ANC is at zero, is another indicator that the chemo has done it's work in killing off the cancer cells. 

I am told that I will remain at zero ANC for a few days, and then, like the Phoenix, my bone marrow will arise from this whole ash heap created by the chemo. When the ANC rises back to 500, I am theoretically ready to go home! 

In the meantime, I am feeling mostly fine, except for these pesky morning headaches. One of the hematologists told me yesterday, she doesn't expect me to feel any worse than I do now, so I am encouraged all around today. Praise the Lord!

Oh! By the way, in case you were wondering about hair loss (as if I had any to lose), it has begun. As I was typing an email yesterday morning, I noticed some gray hairs on my keyboard. Yep, my beard is beginning to bail out. One of the nurses in oncology finished chemo for breast cancer a few months ago. She tells me the dark, curly hair that she has is completely different from what her hair used to be like. Reportedly, it is common for new hair to be different from what was there before. What if my beard all drops out and then I get a mop of dark curly hair on top of my head? Now there's something to ponder!!