Monday 3 November 2008

Blood Tests Back

Mail today, so I have my own copy of the blood results. Neutrophiles actually stood at 1674 before the last session. Red counts don't look too bad: hemoglobin, hematocrite and hematies are a tad low, but not bad. Platelets were within normal range and I have no Leg Lurg this time.

I thought I had Chest Lurg. Bright red emerging on the right side of my chest Sunday evening. By midnight I could see it encircling the chamber in my chest and I thought something terrible was happening. "Look!" I said to Nick ("Oh, did I wake you up"?) "It's a circle."

"Or a square," he said. Ha, ha! Very fun. . . Ah, the bandage the nurse had put over the site after the treatment. (Big bandage.) I forgot to tell her I'm allergic to adhesives.

CA125 is now down to 571.99. That's almost a fifth of what I started with!

I've not been sleeping well for the last 10 days or 2 weeks. Maybe that's an improvement, too. I've not been sleeping well for 20 years until after my stay in hospital.

Another thing I haven't mentioned is the numbness in my fingertips. It's constant and has been so from the beginning and is normal. Well, you know: normal for chemo.

I still have some fuzz on my head and I have my eyebrows and eyelashes. I wonder why that is?

Tomorrow is the scan and then we'll know if the CA125 means anything.

4 comments:

  1. That's fantastic that your CA125 is down so much!!
    Maybe you could ask for something for sleep, as your body needs rest.
    I think that eyebrow/eyelash hair grows much slower than head hair.
    And remember, all the fun happens because chemo attacks all rapidly reproducing cells (hair, mouth, blood cells, stomach, etc).
    Just a guess. But that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
    Karen.

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  2. Woo-hoo!

    Now, I thought you were supposed to mention all side effects in the diary...so you could track it. Apparently not, HA!

    What else are you *not* mentioning? Good on ya for keeping some things to yourself. You don't have to share every-damn-thing.

    Eyebrows and lashes may not be growing as fast as the hair on your head - you still have fuzz which means new growth. Here in SATX, drawn-on eyebrows and fake ashes are the in-thang.

    I'll be chomping at the bit to get out of the conference to read your good news.

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  3. Wonderful news :) Keep up the yelling at your cells it seems to be working.

    Olga

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  4. Numbness.

    Some strange stuff happens to your body when you go through Chemo. My girlfriend has had some terrible side effects too. She most recently stopped typing up messages updating us on her progress because her fingertips hurt so bad she just can't type. She likened the feeling to having your fingernails pulled out. Sounds lovely. I don't know that much about Chemo drugs or if certain types do specific certain side effects but she had other strange things happen her first time around too.

    Yipee for the favorable blood tests!

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