A Parasite in Sight?

I went in for my monthly visit to City of Hope today and received some strange results on my blood test. We usually just concentrate on my blood counts (which are still normal or just below the normal range), but this time Dr. Forman drew my attention to the Eosinophil (EOS) granulocytes. The normal range is between 0 and 2%, but my counts were more than 20%. A high percentage usually indicates blood parasites.

Could this be why I continued eating like a longshoreman but only gained a half pound in the last month? I'm not exhibiting any other signs of blood parasites, so we're just going to wait and see what happens next month.

I also dropped in for a two-hour cognitive test. I'm participating in a three-year study to determine if there's a connection between high-dose chemo and diminished cognitive functioning (aka chemo brain). Not to brag, but my brain seems to be operating swifter and better than ever. The test administrator, who's not supposed to give feedback, told me that I performed faster and more accurately than any patient she's ever tested in several areas. I even made a clean sweep in the area that's usually my weakest - spatial/visual perception problems. (When I took the same test before my stem cell transplant, I hit a wall on the last two problems.)

I strutted out of there thinking, "Watch out world. I am one smart cookie!" But the euphoria didn't last long. On my way down to my clinical appointment, I realized that I'd forgotten my yellow patient folder. I went back to get it and got lost. I wandered around aimlessly for several minutes and never found my folder or the testing area.

Is that the way the smart cookie crumbles?