Slowly but Surely

My counts are slowly on the rise and are currently 100 - Woo Hoo!  I am feeling good.  Just waiting for a good count so I can be released.  I am starting to go a little stir crazy being here and definitely missing my girl.  Hopefully, this time tomorrow I am home.  Six days here is plenty.         

Monday - 0
Tuesday - 0
Wednesday - 21
Thursday - 0
Friday - 41
Saturday - 100

Extended Stay at Hotel Hopkins

My counts took an exciting leap to 21 yesterday.  They have, however, taken a not-so-good decrease back to 0 today.  So far, all my bacterial and viral tests have been negative, so they are not really sure what is suppressing my bone marrow.  There are still some tests cooking that might point us in a direction of an infection in the next day or so.  I have not had a fever since my first day here, so that is definitely a good sign.  Overall, I am feeling pretty good.  Tired and a little run down feeling, but that’s to be expected from chemo and having low counts.  If my counts are still not up in 4-5 days, they will talk to the Hematologist here on what other options we can disucss to increase my ANC levels. 

I will be here for at least a few more days and quite possibly over the weekend.  My spirits are still holding strong, and I am trying not to get too discouraged about my counts.  I am definitely missing my baby girl.  Steve got to spend some good time with her yesterday evening, so it was nice she got to see her daddy for a little bit.

Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts over the last few days.  Continue to pray that my counts will increase (preferably on their own), and that I will be able to head home soon.  It is somewhat of a comfort to be here away from germs, not that I am 100% protected since I am in a hospital, but the protocol for my floor is pretty good at protecting the cancer patients from germy germs. 
       

Time to Rest and Regroup

Looks like I will be spending a few days of R&R in the hospital.  My ANC is officially 0.  Early Monday morning I woke with chills, fever, headache.......the works.  After two calls to the on-call Oncologist, we were told to head to the ER.  By the time we got to the ER, my temp was 101.8.  I was omitted really quickly.  Although it took all day for a bed to become available on the Oncology floor, I was in a nice holding room while we waited.

I have had lots of blood drawn.  It seems like they have taken it all.  They are doing cultures to see if they can find any bacterial infections so they can give me the proper antibiotics.  I am already on two antibiotics that cover a broad range of things.  I had a slight reaction to one of the meds.  I got red and blotchy and started to feel itchy.  My entire head got bright red.  Since that first reaction, I have been doing ok with this particular med.  I had what is called red man syndrome.  It's not an official allergy.  This morning they did a swab to test for any viruses.  Unfortunately, until those results are back (24-48hrs) I am in isolation, and everyone around me has to wear a gown, gloves, and masks.   

They are still optimistic my counts will start to rise on their own, so it's just a waiting game until then as they attempt to treat whatever is causing me to feel sick.  They think I will be here for a few more days, but I am hoping by Thursday I can go home.  They did say they won't release me until my ANC is at least 500, or at least constantly rising.  Hopefully, once they start to increase, they will do so fairly quickly.

So until then, I am resting, resting, and resting.  I have lots of girly magazines, my Nook, laptop and the TV to keep me entertained.  The real challenge is keeping Steve entertained.  He is definitely not enjoying the virus precaution he has to wear.

Charlotte is also a little under the weather.  In addition to cutting her top two teeth, she has her first ear infection.  It's hard for me not to be there with her when she is not feeling well, but I know she is in good hands with her mom-mom, pop-pop, Uncle Tommy and Uncle Ryan.  She will be so spoiled by the time we get to see each other, but I know she is having a blast with all the attention.      

Holding Steady

My counts have not changed from Wed and are holding steady at 80.  Unfortunately, they are not moving up, and I was, again, unable to receive chemo this week.  I am, however, feeling better so that's good news.  The nurses and my doctor both said a drop this drastic is very uncommon, and the nurse said she had never seen such a drastic drop.  It's even more uncommon not to see a rise in counts after 2 weeks without treatment.  They are a little stumped at why my bone marrow is not rebounding as it should.  They will recheck next Friday, and if its still not in a good place, we may start doing the shots again to give me a boost.  Although I hate the shot, and they make me feel like I have been hit by a truck, it's better than not being able to fight an infection.

Today is SHIT - Sure Happy It's Thursday.  (If you know me well, then you are probably very familiar with this saying).  It's also what I like to call Champagne Thursday, and although we have gotten out of the habit of regularly celebrating this day, it's one of my favorite things.  My girl Christel sent me this picture, and I just had to put it on here in honor of the day and the pink.  Cheers!!!!!  Have a wonderful weekend.   

Low ANC - Neutropenia

Here's a little medical education and what having a low blood count means.

The normal neutrophil count is 2,500-6,000.  When you have 1,000 or fewer neutrophils, your risk of infection is increased.  When it's lower than 500, you are at risk for getting a serious infection.  This condition is called neutropenia. 

Things I need to look for given my neutropenic status at 80 ANC count"

• Fever - 100.5 is the magic number
• Shaking chills
• Flushed skin
• Sweating (guessing my hot flashes don't count)
• Frequent urination or burning
• Redness, tenderness, or pain anywhere in the body  
• General feeling of tiredness or flu-like symptoms (sore throat, sneezing, runny nose, coughing, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath, chest discomfort)

General precautions I can take:

• Wash, wash, wash, wash hands.
• Check temp. throughout the day - looking for that magic number.  No Tylenol products can be used since they suppress a temp., and we would want to know what it is.  
• Check for any sings of infection in cuts, mouth, etc.
• Shower or bathe daily - seems strange, but I guess people don't already do that. :o)
• Rinse teeth and gums after meals and at bed time.
• Use a soft toothbrush.
• No flossing. (Good thing I don't ever do this.) :o)
• Avoid contact with crowds, people with illness/infections, and public places.
• Avoid working with dirt/soil.
• Avoid cleaning bird cages, cat litter, and fish tanks. (Good thing Puddy became an outside kitty months ago.)
• No manicures or pedicures.
• No hot tubs and jacuzzis.
• Limit exposure to fresh flowers, house plants, and stagnant water.
• Be careful to avoid cuts and scrapes.
• Cook meat until well done, and limit exposure to restaurants since you don't know how the meat was prepared.
• No salad bars or buffets.

There are others, but they are a little TMI so I won't share them.

Today I have been trying to disinfect things and clean some of the toys that make it into C's mouth on a regular basis.  If only we could see germs.  This reminds me of the chorus to one of my favorite kid songs.  "I hide him in my pocket cause he's very, very small.  Germs, germs, my invisible dog."

There is, unfortunately, nothing I can do to increase my counts.  My body has to rebuild them on its own.  The only thing I can do is take precautions, and try and limit my exposure to germs so I do not end up in the ER or worse, spend days in the hospital.

Remember those nasty shots Steve was giving me during phase 1???  They were the only thing keeping me from taking this turn before.  Because they take cells from your bone marrow to make new white blood cells, they are hard on the body.  I know at this point they are not recommending I use this, so we will patiently wait for my body to kick back in gear.  I just hope once they are back up, I will be able to maintain a healthy level going forward so we are not continuing to push treatments back.

Moving in the Wrong Direction

My body is rebelling on me.  I have been fighting something since Sunday.  I am still clear of any fever, which is wonderful.  I am, however, feeling poopy and have what they think is a viral infection.  Since I was not feeling a whole lot better, my NP wanted to see me today.  They swabbed me for strep just in case, since one of my nieces had strep last week, and I might have been indirectly exposed through Grandmom.  Those results were not in when I left, but they will call if anything came up.  They also rechecked my counts, and they are on a downward spiral.  I think in my last post I said I was under 1,000.  I was actually under 200 last week.  I apparently need to take a class on how to read my lab reports.  Now that I am looking at the right line, my counts are down to 80.  Not the improvement we had hoped.  She said there is not much difference between 80 and 0 at this point.  I will most likely not be getting chemo on Friday, unless my body works very hard at replenishing my white cells.  In an effort to keep our exposure to germs to a minimal, Char will be staying home with me the rest of the week.  She was actually running a low grade fever this afternoon, which I think is just her top teeth breaking through.  If she comes down with something more serious than just teething, we will have to be separated until it passes.  They did put me on a strong antibiotic to help combat my exposure to things.  I am still checking my temperature several times a day.  A fever would not be good at this point. 

Please pray for a speedy recovery of my counts, and also, that Charlotte and Steve will stay healthy in the process.            

Wigs, Wigs, and More Wigs

Last weekend, I went wig browsing with my two girls, Emily and Christel, at Charlotte's Hair Line in White Marsh.  They had tons of selections.  I opted for short and blond.  There were tons I had to choose from.  It was actually a lot of fun.  It has been awhile since I had hair, so it was fun to see all the styles.  If you knew me before this blog, then you know I rarely had the same hair style for long.  Plus, the added bonus of having curly hair meant I could straighten it if the mood strikes.

I ended up getting two really cute wigs.  I still fully plan on embracing Bold Is Fabulous, but I have some options if I am in the mood and for special occasions.    

Charlotte loved when I put them on.  She kept smiling and laughing. 

No-Go for Me

Today I arrived for chemo, excited to be 25% through phase 2 of my treatments.  I had my blood drawn and saw the doctor.  Unfortunately, when I got back to my cubby, my blood work had come in and my counts were very low.  Just to double-check, my nurse redrew it just to make sure it was not a lab error.  There was no change.  I am or have (not sure which) leukopenia.  My white blood count is under 1,000, so I was unable to receive my treatment.  As she was putting the fear of God in me about germs, eating meat that is not cooked properly, fever, chills, being in crowds, etc. .......I started to cry.  Aside from being disappointed it will be one week longer than I thought before I am done, I have to be super careful not to catch anything.  Having an 8 month old makes that difficult.  A fever or anything questionable will most likely land me in the hospital.

On a happier note, Charlotte and I started getting back into the groove this week.  Charlotte started back at Celebree.  She did great, aside from being so busy she didn't want to take the time to drink her bottles.  She is loving being back with all her friends and playing.  I also went back to work this week.  I wasn't sure how I would feel about it, but I am SO happy to be back!!!!  My first week went well, definitely a step in the right direction.  Given what we learned today, it's probably not ideal that we are both back in environments where there are lots of people and germs, but we will take the necessary precautions to hopefully limit some of our exposure.   

Phase 2 - 1 Down, 11 More to Go

I survived my first treatment of Taxol, and I must say it's pretty awesome in comparison to AC......at least so far.  I met a lady on Thursday when I was at Hopkins for blood work who was almost done her Taxol treatment.  She stopped over to say hi and get a peek at Charlotte (who was a hit with all the nurses and a few patients).  I asked her how Taxol was, and she said "It's like heaven compared to what you have already been through".  And so far I have to agree.  It's so much better.

It was a rather long treatment, but they said the first two would be the longest, and then they would be much faster.  I didn't have an allergic reaction, which was also great.  My blood work looked great, although it will probably not be the case as we progress through this phase.  Today, I felt pretty good.  I needed a nap this afternoon, but I was not on the couch feeling horrible and dreading the days to follow. 

1 down - 11 more to go!!!!!

The doctor commented on how good I am doing handling everything and said whatever you are doing, keep it up.  I'm not saying that I don't still have my ups and downs and emotional breakdowns.  I am not made of stone.  But, I know it has been everyone's prayers for both me and Steve over the last few months that have got me through.  And no matter how difficult it is at times to have an 8 month old baby when I am always tired, I 100% believe that God put Baby Charlotte in our lives at the exact right time.  There is no better thing than seeing her smiling face in the morning or tucking her in a night.  She is the best inspiration I could ever ask for.