Confession

BOX SCORE
Element	Current	Std. Range	Trend
Hemoglobin	11.7	13-17	^
Platelets	30	140-375	v
ANC	4180	1800-8300	^

I am not a habitual liar. Have I ever prevaricated? Well, I am a human being, so... Unfortunately, I inadvertently led you astray with my last post. It turns out that, in spite of the calendar indicating it is time for chemo, and in spite of the fact that I was mentally prepared. And in spite of the fact that Jill had prepared menus for the week that would allow quick and easy dinner prep after four o'clock appointments in Salem, my chemo week was canceled. On Monday morning, my blood counts were all good except for the platelets. They have been declining over the past several blood draws, after making a nice recovery following my previous chemo week. 

As you can see in today's Box Score, platelets are pretty low, compared to the Standard Range. There are protocols for dealing with low platelet counts. The first is that if my platelets get to 10 or below. I get a platelet transfusion. Second, if my count is10-20 and I am having significant symptoms, such as sores in my mouth or unusually severe bruising, I get a transfusion. If they are 20-30 and I have unusual bleeding, I get a transfusion. So, where does that leave me today? Well, I'm not sure. I will call oncology today, if they don't call me first. The fact is that a couple of times this week I found a bit of blood on my bath towel. It was not a worrisome amount, but I should report it and let Dr. Brow make the decision about transfusion. One thing for sure is that I will need to increase my blood draws to twice weekly, until my platelet count goes up. 

Every cloud has a silver lining, and my blood counts are no exception. This morning's hemoglobin count is up from Monday's and my ANC is way up in the Standard Range. So, we don't need to quarantine, and I am feeling great. The concern with platelets is the possibility of a brain bleed (essentially a stroke) so, low platelets can't be overlooked. On the other hand, low platelets mean I don't have to take my blood thinner twice a day, and high ANC means I don't have to take my antibiotic and antifungal meds.

Other good news includes that we have been through this kind of thing before, so there is no panic going on in the Waugh household. We will simply follow doctor's orders and continue to, as my wife the teacher is fond of saying, "monitor and adjust." 

Since my platelets are misbehaving, so to speak, Dr. Brow has ordered a bone marrow biopsy, which is scheduled for November 14th. If you are a praying person, I covet your prayers around that business. It is not much of a procedure, so if you would, focus your prayers more around the findings being good, and less around my tolerating the procedure. This will be my eighth go round with bone marrow biopsy. 

We are expecting a visit from Laura, our daughter, and her family next week. We are thrilled to be able to see them. Try as we might, we haven't been able to get to San Diego since Christmas of 2019. We are also expecting to host our son and his family as well as our other daughter, Tara, for Thanksgiving. Our hearts are full of joy at these prospects. Our only disappointment is that our eldest grandson, Josiah, will not be with us, since he is in college at UC Santa Cruz. 

So, life is good and platelets be damned. We are grateful to the Lord for wonderful kids and grandkids who still want to visit us. I am grateful that I am feeling better than I have in a long time. I apologize for leading you astray in my last post, and I hope you will continue to visit "Red Cells and White Cells and Platelets, Oh My!"

God bless us, every one!