Week One - done

The first "week" of my new treatment regimen is complete. I put the week in quotations because it was a Monday to Friday week and not the seven day kind. Today's activities included a 7:15AM blood draw and a 3:30PM transfusion of platelets, coupled with my fifth day of chemo injections. My platelets had dropped to 15, whereas the threshold for transfusion is 30. I am so grateful for my oncology team who anticipated this situation and arranged an appointment for me "in case." One of my favorite guys is Justin Case!! Getting a load of platelets late Friday afternoon is a virtual guarantee that I will not wind up in the ER this weekend. 

Suzanne called this morning and said my numbers looked very good, except for the platelets. She was very upbeat. When I mentioned I was a little concerned that my neutrophils are inching their way up, she said, "You're only 4 days into this, so there's no cause for concern. You're doing great." Now, that's what you want to hear from your oncology nurse! 

Another piece of good news is that, because things have gone so well with the Venetoclax during this induction phase, and my uric acid has behaved itself, I no longer will need daily labs. Beginning Monday, I will only need labs on Monday and Thursday. I will finish this round of shots on Tuesday (Happy Birthday to me!), and then I will be on only oral meds until August 8th. Then the cycle will repeat.

So, all things considered, this first week has gone very well. Praise the Lord!

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 19, 2022 at 6:19 AM

    Tom; What an amazing and trying journey you have been on and one you continue to travel. I wonder how you would respond to James? "Count it all joy brethren when you face various trials." James declares such trials produce endurance. How's your endurance Tom? That would be a very healthy conversation for us to engage, because I do believe the Word of God is true, and I do believe various trials will be good for those of us who put our trust in Christ. Tom Waugh is a living object lesson. Would love to discuss this with you...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TomJuly 19, 2022 at 9:13 AM

      I would enjoy that. You have posted as "Anonymous," so I don't know who this is.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Anniversary

Today is our wedding anniversary. Jill has survived 21 years with me. Our marriage is old enough to drink!! In many ways, it seems like only a couple of years since our wedding day, and in other ways it seems as if we have always been us. This, I believe, is what is referred to in the fairy tales as "wedded bliss." Only, in our case, it isn't a fairy tale at all. It's just, well...wedded bliss. How I love that girl! A year ago today, I finished my induction chemotherapy at Club Sunnyside. Jill picked up German food at Gustav's, which is across the street from the hospital campus. She also picked up Bundt cakes from "Nothing Bundt Cake;" a little one for us and a big one for the oncology staff. It was as fine a celebration as we could muster under the circumstances, and one we will never forget.  Today we had a morning clinic visit. This time for Jill's blood pressure, which with the help of a new medication added to her regimen, is perfect, thank you...
Read more

A Dream Come True

Image
BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 11 13-17 ^ Platelets 89 140-375 v ANC 2810 1800-8300 ^ When I was a youngster, probably about 10 years old, my dad introduced me to model making. Mainly we built models from kits, but Dad also taught me how to make a stick and paper airplane from scratch. It actually flew, with the help of a rubber band motor. But one of my favorite plastic model kits was an MG-TD sports car. You may remember this car from your youth (if you are old, like me) or from old movies, or maybe from a car show. It was a little, English two-seater with long sweeping front fenders and a vertical grille. The windshield (well, windscreen, if you are Brit...
Read more

Don' be that guy!

Remember the Mighty Casey? In Ernest Lawrence Thayer's famous poem "Casey at the Bat," he was the pride of the Mudville baseball team. We join the story in the 9th inning:  The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day: The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play, And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same, A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game. The crowd was in despair. Down two in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, they were beginning to leave the stadium. The next two batters were the bottom of the order and offered little hope, but Flynn hit a single, and Blake a double. Suddenly, there was hope for the Mudville nine, for the top of the order, none other than the mighty Casey, was coming to bat with two men in scoring position. Even a base hit would keep the game alive, and a home run, well that would end it in a glorious, ecstatic victory.  Now Casey, apparently, had embraced the hype about hi...
Read more