Monday, June 4, 2007

Another Postponement

I was filled with high hopes this morning when I went for my blood draw at the City of Hope - hope that my blood levels had finally risen and that I would be admitted for round four of chemo.

But a very slight cold was enough to knock my counts back down and I'm once again on hold for admission.

Dr. Forman confirmed that the effects of chemo are cumulative and, consequently, my blood is having a tough time recovering from the intense bombardment. I told him that my friends are worried that my activity levels are affecting the counts and are encouraging me to rest more. He very adamantly replied, "Your friends are wrong. It's the chemo, not your activity levels, that's responsible for your low counts. I'd much rather see you active like you are and leading as normal of a life as possible." See why I love my doctor?

The good news is that we'll be doing six rounds of chemo, not eight as originally explained to me by Dr. D. I've already reached the halfway mark! This means that I could be going in for the stem cell transplant (STC) as early as late July. Of course, it's hard to predict the exact date since the recovery times between rounds are now so uncertain. After round four, we'll redo the tests with the expectation that I'll be in full remission. Stem cells are collected after round five, and then I'll have the STC after round six.

All of this has gone better and faster than I ever dreamed.

But that "very slight cold" I mentioned is enough to make me unusually tired today, so I'm settling in for an afternoon nap.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nap is the best part of any busy mom's day! I am an advocate of both "power napping" for 15 -20 min and those luxurious, hour long, under the favorite quilt, ear plugs in and window open indulgent naps. I am a coinsurer of naps. So, before you lay down, drink some orange juice and RELAX!

Mrs. Duck said...

It sounds to me like mostly good news today. Six rounds instead of eight is wonderful news! Activity being a good thing, rather than a bad one, is also excellent! A cold is never good news, but it isn't terrible news, either. All in all, it sounds good to me! Yay! Keep up the positive attitude and happy activities! And enjoy your nap!

Love,
Mrs. Duck

Karen said...

Wow - that's great! Not that you've got a cold, but that you're farther along than you thought you would be. Super! :-)

Okay, tell Dr. Forman that we're adequately chastized and we won't bug you about resting anymore ...

the other Karen

Anonymous said...

So glad, Susan, that you can continue to be you and do the things you like to do that make you feel good. So glad too that you are half way there! Amazing! Susan, I have been taking better care of myself,inspired partly because of you and I am happy to report that there is 8.6 pounds less of me to love! Keeping on track with you! love You, Suze

SAMO Calling said...

Mea culpa!
This is one instance, I am thrilled to be wrong about.
Keep on keeping on Susan.