A breakthrough, or just a break?

Monday morning means labs for me. Today was a good day in that department. The phlebotomist easily found my vein, and the whole business took about five minutes. We like to go early to avoid both the weekenders feeling the need for urgent care, which opens at 9:00 AM, and the line up at the lab that results from their coming in. So, we arrived at 7:15 AM and were on our way to Walmart for a curbside grocery pickup by about 7:25 AM. The extra five minutes comprised walking to and from the car. 

Once we got home, we had some breakfast and plotted the day. We began by taking our daily constitutional, about two miles around the neighborhood. We are so grateful for cooler weather. It has been at or near 100 degrees for a week. Today, the highest I actually saw on the outdoor thermometer was 83. By the time we were back again, my labs had come in. I am accustomed to finding my platelets have tanked over the weekend. In fact, I had a contingency appointment on the books for this afternoon. But today, my platelets were above the first number that tipped off Dr. Waugh to the possibility that I was relapsing. So, no transfusion today. I don't know whether this is the breakthrough that oncology has been hinting will happen or just a break from having to have another transfusion.

Now, my other results were not surprising, but they were not showing increases. My hemoglobin was at 8.6 today, down from 9.4 on Friday. That's not wonderful; the standard range is 13-17. But it is safely above the threshold for a red blood cell transfusion. The number I was most interested in was Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC). The chemotherapy targets the stem cells in my bone marrow that produce neutrophils and other white blood cells. Because the cancerous cells are more sensitive to the drugs than healthy cells, they are more likely to be killed off by the chemotherapeutic agents. Along with the cancer cells, however, some of the healthy cells do get killed. So, it is normal during chemotherapy for ANC to drop, usually to zero (no neutrophils) before they begin to rebound. I expect them to hit zero later this week. My ANC  dropped from 2,020 to 160 in the past week. So, the chemo is doing its job. 

The good news is that low ANC doesn't make me feel any worse. The bad news is that it wipes out my immunity.  Consequently, isolation is the order of the day. It still amazes me how this body that God gave me can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. Essentially, I take poison day in and day out, and although things in my body change, my body keeps rebounding. I am truly fearfully and wonderfully made. 

Thank you, Lord!