Remember those ads for Geritol? I have an iron deficiency and low hemoglobin and hematocrit, so I’m taking an iron supplement + vitamin C a few times a day and getting shots of EPO (Erythropoietin alpha) each week. This is from the chemo at the beginning of the month. Anyway, this condition [...]
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I had 3 big slugs of Cytoxan at the start of October (the 5th). Almost 3 grams IV, 3 times, every 3 hours. It caused my hair to fall out, but not ALL of it. I’d estimate that about 95% of the hair on my head fell out. I still have [...]
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I got a call from one of the nurses at my doctor’s office. All of my lab results aren’t back yet, so I don’t know my m-spike or serum IgA. I’m supposed to call back on Monday to find out. However, they did say that I’m “extremely iron deficient” and are calling [...]
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Yesterday I saw the doc and had labs drawn. My Hgb was 8.5, and I’ve been feeling pretty washed out. I got a shot of Procrit, and have another one scheduled for next Wednesday. I’m hoping it will help. My platelets and WBC are in the normal range now. In [...]
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The catheter is out now. I had a real shower today, without having to worry too much about getting the dressing wet. I asked if I could keep my Neostar, and the doc said it was ok. I’ll take a picture of it for you to see. Unfortunately, my camera doesn’t [...]
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I get to have my triple lumen catheter removed on Monday! I think I hate this thing more than anything I ever hated before. I constantly obsess about infection. I hate that it limits my ability to have a thorough shower. It kept me from swimming during the last warm days [...]
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Some major hair loss started yesterday. There’s so much of it that I called my neighbor, who has a salon, to see if he could shave my head for me. I think it will be better that way. I’ll know for sure at 5, when it happens!
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Have you ever had that bone pain from taking neupogen? I took 900 mg a day by injection for 11 days. I didn’t notice anything until about half way into it. I had a persistent headache. A few days later though, I had shooting pains in my back, ribs, sternum and [...]
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Today I started the stem cell harvest process, and I just got word of today’s count: 7 million. We’ll go one more day (tomorrow) so there are enough for 3. Since I expect to live a long time, I want to have those extras on ice for the future. We’re getting them [...]
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Today I had my last CBC before going in for the harvest on Monday morning. I feel ok, but my counts are all lower than ever.
Result
Unit
Ref range
WBC
0.4
x10^3/uL
4.5 - 10.5
Hgb
9.4
g/dL
11.0 - 18.0
Plt
63.0
x10^3/uL
150 - 450
RBC
3.46
x10^6/uL
4.00 - 6.00
Cytoxan is powerful stuff, eh?
I took the staff at my oncologist’s office some treats today. They’ve been so [...]
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I’ve been having CBCs every other day. Yesterday (Wednesday), my WBC was just .5! I’ve never had a low WBC before. My HGB was up to 10.1, I think. That’s good. Still lower than it’s ever been, but I know it’s only temporary.
Sunday night I’ll go to the Hawthorne Inn [...]
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I’m home now. I’ve been home since Friday evening. I feel pretty well, but very, very tired. My Hgb is low, for the first time ever. It’s been borderline low, before, but only 11.3. Now it’s 9.3. For some, that seems good, I know, so I’m not complaining.
The thing [...]
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Pretty soon I’ll be having my third dose of Cytoxan for today. It looks like it says 2925 mg. I’ll have to ask, to be sure. I’ll also have my Ativan, and to help with a headache I have, some Tylenol.
The psychologist just stopped by to see me. I remember reading someplace [...]
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I just had 3 tablets of Zofran. This is what Chris had told me is the “Rolls Royce” of anti-emetics. My chemo is set to start at 10:00 AM, which is a little more than an hour from now. I’ve been told by a few people that this isn’t going [...]
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I just finished Black River Falls, by Ed Gorman. I think I need to buy all of his books now. This one was good. It was a fast read and kept my attention. I really haven’t been able to read much since I took thalidomide. I was fortunate enough to [...]
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I’m in the hospital now. I had a Neostar triple lumen catheter inserted this morning and have had xrays and labs drawn. Other than that, not much else. At 10:00 PM, they’re going to start hydrating me in preparation for the Cytoxan and Mesna. Don’t let anyone tell you it doesn’t [...]
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