Red Cells and White Cells and Platelets, Oh My!

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 11.9 13-17 ^ Platelets 116 140-375 ^ ANC 7440 1800-8300 ^^ The old saw "good things come to those who wait" may just be proving itself true. Check out the Box Score above. It's not uncommon for blood counts to rise during chemo week, which will be completed tomorrow, as far as injections go. Then there will be five more days of oral chemo. After all of that, blood counts generally dip. How far is always the question.  The remarkable thing about this Box Score is the level of the ANC. On April 16th, it was 580, so low that my chemo week was postponed. On April 23rd it was 910, an improvement but still marginal. In fac

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 11.4 13-17 ^ Platelets 126 140-375 ^ ANC 730 1800-8300 ^ My sweet, adorable wife, Jill, is fond of talking about "seasons" in our lives. Her point is that, much like the changing seasons of the year (are we ever going to see spring this year?), our lives go through changing seasons, too. They may not be cyclical, like the seasons of the year, you know: winter, spring, summer, fall, winter, spring, summer, fall; but rather the seasons of our lives represent distinct periods of time, during which our lives are changed in some material way. Those changes may never come back to visit again, but like the annual changes of sea

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 11.2 13-17 v Platelets 111 140-375 ^ ANC 580 1800-8300 v Well, ya just don't know what's going to happen. On Thursday, I expected my ANC  to go up. It had declined as expected and then it leveled off at 770. "Aha," thought I, "I'm at the nadir, and by Sunday when I have my next blood draw it should be showing a strong upward trend." WRONG!   As you can see in the Box Score, it showed a strong downward trend, instead. I am thankful that my hemoglobin and platelets are staying pretty steady. There is always something to be grateful for.  Yesterday, we had a consultation with Dr. Brow. She agreed with me t

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 11.9      13-17 ^ Platelets 106 140-375 ^ ANC 770 1800-8300 > If I were to tell you I wasn't disappointed that my ANC stayed even at 770, you shouldn't be too sure I wasn't pulling your leg. My labs today showed a sharp rise in hemoglobin and platelets. I am thrilled with those results. They mean my energy level will be up, and I will be less likely to bruise, although I defy you to find a spot where I am not currently bruised. But bruising is not terribly important. I mean, the Mr. America Pageant passed me by decades ago.  ANC is different. It's the one that dictates how engaged I can be with the community. When i

BOX SCORE Element Current Std. Range Trend Hemoglobin 11.1 13-17 - Platelets 45 140-375 v ANC 980 1800-8300 v I suppose it was inevitable. Jill and I have been reveling in the opportunity to be out and about more, since my blood counts have stabilized. But on Thursday, my platelets and my ANC both went down. Thank the Lord my hemoglobin stayed level, and at 11.1 it doesn't cause me to notice being short of breath. The lowered platelets cause me to be unsteady on my feet. I mean I am walking like an old geezer, as if I were 76 years old or something.  The linchpin of this whole business, as you know if you follow the blog, is ANC or Absolute Neutrophil Count. Neutrophils are a surrog