Red Cells and White Cells and Platelets, Oh My!

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 9.3 13-17 ^ Platelets 78 140-375 ^ ANC 2140 1800-8300 ^ Well, will you look at that! My ANC is in the STANDARD RANGE!! WooHoo!! This is what we have been waiting for. It's a chance to socialize with friends and family... Oh, wait! What's this? Jill is in quarantine?? Say what?  Here's the story. When I went to my last ophthalmology appointment, Jill was with me, of course. As we chatted with Dr. O, Jill mentioned that she needed to make an appointment with Dr. Widman, our dermatologist, for a little growth on the side of her nose. Dr. O looked at it and said, "That looks like a basal cell carcinoma. I can biopsy that ...

  BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 9.0 13-17 ^ Platelets 70 140-375 v ANC 1410 1800-8300 ^ Surprises. I like some of them. Others not so much. When I turned thirty, my wife and my office staff gave me a surprise birthday party. Not my cup of tea. I felt like I was on stage and had to perform, although I did appreciate the thought.  This week, on the other hand, we got a nice surprise when I started my current round of chemotherapy. Dr. Brow had told me she was reducing the number of days I would have injections from 7 to 5, but what we didn't know is that in addition, she reduced the dosage of injectable chemo from 4 shots to 3!! Now that's my kind of surp...

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 8.9 13-17 👍 Platelets 83 140-375 👎 ANC 1070 1800-8300 👍 Sometimes, we wish for something. It might be something we used to have and would like to have restored. True, there might be reasons, good reasons, for our having been denied it. Nevertheless, and not withstanding the good reasons, we continue to wish for and ask for that something. Time after time, we are disappointed when our wishes are denied. And when that happens, we human beings have a tendency to respond in one of two ways.  First we may become disillusioned and despair of ever receiving our wish. We may even give up hope altogether. In extreme cases we may make excuse...

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 8.8 13-17 v Platelets 98 140-375 ^ ANC 100 1800-8300 ^ This morning, I was reading from Revelation chapter 3. In this chapter, Jesus is writing a letter to the seven churches in Asia. Or rather, Jesus is dictating, and John the Beloved Apostle is recording... kind of a "Letter to the Churches," by Jesus Christ, as told to the Apostle John situation. He addresses each church separately and gives them an evaluation of their current situation. Like any good leader, He points out what His charges are doing well, but He also points out areas where they have room to grow. In each case, He includes an encouragement for the churc...

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 8.9 13-17 v Platelets 78 140-375 - ANC 40 1800-8300 v We are celebrating! Well, we are feeling celebrational. Celebrating seems to me to imply sharing good news in person with friends and family. Alas, we can't do that right now, because of the number in the Current ANC box in the Box Score above. So, why are we feeling like we would celebrate, if we could?  Yesterday, we received the preliminary report on my latest bone marrow biopsy. It reads, in part,  “There is no definite morphologic or immunologic evidence of residual acute leukemia, and the findings may be consistent with marrow regeneration after chemotherapy.  Ho...

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 9.8 13-17 ^ Platelets 78 140-375 ^ ANC 110 1800-8300 v Lazy bones, sleepin' in the sun How you 'spect to get your day's work done? You'll never get your day's work done sleepin' in the noon day sun Lazy bones, sleepin' in the shade How you 'spect to get your cornmeal made? You'll never get your cornmeal made sleepin' in the evening shade When taters need sprayin', I bet you keep prayin' The bugs fall off the vine; And when you go fishin' I bet you keep wishin' That the fish won't grab at your line Lazy bones, loafin' through the day How you 'spect to make a dime that way?...