After being off antibiotics for 16 days from my last infection, I am now on another more powerful antibiotic for a tripleheader: bronchitis, sinusitis and ear infection. The week after Jen’s Bridal Shower, which was May 10th, I wasn’t feeling very well. My high dose of steroids always suppresses my immune system a little more when I take them and after taking my steroids 6 days after the shower, my illness hit me big time. Three days after my steroids, on Monday, May 19, when a slight fever began to show up, I finally headed for the walk-in clinic. I am slowly improving and beginning to feel a little better, but I had another dose of steroids yesterday and am hopeful they will not impede my progress.
I’m not the only one who got ill following the shower. Lyn got sick about the same time I did and Jen got up this past Monday morning and was getting sick. However, she still drove the 2 hours to the Sacramento airportand back to pick up our friend Elke, from Belgium, who was stopping over for a day on a trip up the west coast. Elke’s schedule was so busy, she was thankful for a day to just sit around with us and visit. By Wednesday, Jen was much worse and Steve, my husband, drove Elke back to the airport on Wednesday morning. We were so excited for her visit, but were so bummed we were ill. But, we did have a good visit in spite of everything. We prayed for Elke as she was leaving for the airport and included a prayer she wouldn’t get sick! Our homespun theory is that someone must have been contagious at the shower where we all got exposed.
I rested on Wednesday as much as I could and was beginning to feel a little better. However, my “mini” choir concert was scheduled for Thursday evening and I had to decide whether I was going to be well enough to muddle through it or cancel it. I decided by Wednesday afternoon I could make it through. The concert went well and I even managed a trip to In-N-Out for a cheeseburger afterward. Yes, I was a little overdressed in my black dress and heels, but I knew half the families already there!
Tuesday, May 27, would have been my monthly visit to Stanford. Due to the Memorial Holiday on Monday and because I’ve been doing well with my cancer drug, they told me I could skip this appointment and have a CBC (complete blood count) done locally and send the results to them. Since I have such a short window of time between getting my labs done and my cancer drug ordered and shipped in time, I decided to go in yesterday. We had the results by noon and they weren’t very good. After receiving a copy of my labs my oncology nurse called to tell me my treatment would have to be suspended, as my numbers were too low to continue. My white blood count was quite low, my red blood count was actually a little improved from the last test, but, for the first time, my platelets were below normal. I now will have a CBC weekly until they come back up. She suspects the low numbers may be due to my illness, but you would think the white blood count would go up instead of down if I have infection. So there is concern that everything has gone down.
As you can imagine this is very discouraging news. My treatment schedule was going to work out perfectly for the wedding and now we don’t know what’s up ahead. My bone marrow biopsy may be moved even close to the wedding and, as it was, I was just going to have sufficient recovery to be able to sit in a hard chair for any length of time. We’re continuing to pray for healing and to believe that it will come soon, but this past month I have been going down hill. We covet your prayers in the weeks ahead.
To end on a happy note, we’ll be babysitting our grandson, Ty, this weekend while his parents enjoy a couple of days on the lake with friends. Jeremy has been going through a lengthy interview process with a finance company that finances and provides leases for all kinds of heavy equipment used by various types of businesses, such as construction companies. He finally has been hired and will begin his new job on Wednesday, May 28. So as not to be caught without something to fall back on again, he is going to study for his insurance licenses also. He has really enjoyed his time at home with Ty and is such a good dad, but he is ready to get back to work. A lot of work will be from home and on the days he has to be gone, there are enough grandparents who are retired to care for Ty.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Is no news really good news?
Last Tuesday, April 29, was my appointment at Stanford. I see the doctor every 4th Tuesday and since there were 5 Tuesdays in April, I actually had two appointments in the same month. I was most anxious to know my lab results, especially to know if my cancer numbers were continuing to go up or if they would come back down. But I ended up with basically no news. It seems the lab tech neglected to send my blood for the specialized test, called "free light chain test", that assesses my cancer numbers.
Since I had not been feeling well the week before, my blood counts showed that I was fighting something. It seems that when I need white blood cells to fight something the red blood cells take a back seat and their numbers go down. The normal functioning cells can only do so much and they try to produce what I need at any given time, consequently, there is fluctuation in their numbers. However, you have to understand that even though these numbers are going up and down, they are still all below normal.
At my appointment last Tuesday, my doctor gave me “the plan” for the next few months. Since my next appointment would have been the day after Memorial Day, he has decided that I don’t need to come down there to see him. He requested that my primary doctor do a CBC (complete blood count) here locally and fax the results to them. I don’t know if they will go ahead now and ask my primary doctor to order a free light chain test at the end of May or if I will have to wait until my June appointment to know anything further.
My next appointment on June 24 will be at the end of 6 complete cycles of treatment. On that day I will have another bone marrow biopsy (ugh….) and then see the doctor afterward. I don’t know how long it will take for the pathology report to be completed, so am not sure when I will be scheduled to return. When those results are available, he will plan the next phase of my treatment. The upside of this is that it looks like I might be off treatment for several weeks and that will coincide with Jen’s wedding.
In the past, bone marrow biopsies were the only way to clearly know the extent of the cancer load of my type of myeloma (non-secretory myeloma); so, I feel fortunate that it has been a full year since my last bone marrow biopsy. The development of the free light chain blood test in recent years has provided a less invasive way to track the cancer on a more regular basis. However, my doctor explained, they need to know what’s going on in the bone marrow as they can only tell so much from the blood tests.
The good news is that I am beginning to experience a little improvement in the neuropathy in my feet.
Thank you for your continued prayers
Since I had not been feeling well the week before, my blood counts showed that I was fighting something. It seems that when I need white blood cells to fight something the red blood cells take a back seat and their numbers go down. The normal functioning cells can only do so much and they try to produce what I need at any given time, consequently, there is fluctuation in their numbers. However, you have to understand that even though these numbers are going up and down, they are still all below normal.
At my appointment last Tuesday, my doctor gave me “the plan” for the next few months. Since my next appointment would have been the day after Memorial Day, he has decided that I don’t need to come down there to see him. He requested that my primary doctor do a CBC (complete blood count) here locally and fax the results to them. I don’t know if they will go ahead now and ask my primary doctor to order a free light chain test at the end of May or if I will have to wait until my June appointment to know anything further.
My next appointment on June 24 will be at the end of 6 complete cycles of treatment. On that day I will have another bone marrow biopsy (ugh….) and then see the doctor afterward. I don’t know how long it will take for the pathology report to be completed, so am not sure when I will be scheduled to return. When those results are available, he will plan the next phase of my treatment. The upside of this is that it looks like I might be off treatment for several weeks and that will coincide with Jen’s wedding.
In the past, bone marrow biopsies were the only way to clearly know the extent of the cancer load of my type of myeloma (non-secretory myeloma); so, I feel fortunate that it has been a full year since my last bone marrow biopsy. The development of the free light chain blood test in recent years has provided a less invasive way to track the cancer on a more regular basis. However, my doctor explained, they need to know what’s going on in the bone marrow as they can only tell so much from the blood tests.
The good news is that I am beginning to experience a little improvement in the neuropathy in my feet.
Thank you for your continued prayers
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