Time: 7:55pm
HGB: 10.1
PLT: 19
WBC: 0.28
ANC: 0.1
Well I'm still here. I still have all of my hair. I still have cable TV. I still get my meals delivered by men in tuxedo shirts. Tonight's entree:
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| Gourmet Dining |
I'm beginning to get a bit of mucocitis, so eating is becoming more and more difficult. Inside my mouth my inner cheeks are starting to peel, and my throat is starting to hurt, which makes eating and swallowing more difficult. The smaller the bites and the mushier the food, the better right now.
I still am keeping busy with my hall laps. (Trying to keep up three-ish miles per day.) This weekend I was doing my laps and in a little alcove in one hallway, I kept passing this green peanut m&m on the floor. I started fantasizing about peanut m&ms, and how I'm on lock down, and don't have any access to peanut m&ms. After half a dozen or so laps, I finally got closer so I could get a better look. I don't know what I was going to do. I certainly wasn't going to pick it up off the floor and eat it. I think I just wanted to see the printed "M&M" on the shell up close. Guess what? It was a green cap like the ones they put on our tubing. Talk about disappointment of the week.
Probably for the best that I don't go around eating floor M&Ms, as it looks like my blood sugar is elevated. This is almost certainly due to the Herculean dosage of steroids that they currently have me on. The steroids are yet another medication to make my body more hospitable to my new cells, and prevent any GVHD flare ups. Hopefully I can start to taper the steroids before the blood sugar gets out of hand, and I have to start taking insulin. When I asked about a taper, the doctors told me that won't begin happening until I am released out-patient, so I've got another probably 10-14 days to try to keep a balance.
I'm currently failing to keep a balance with my blood pressure, however, which has been trending up as well. This is most likely due to yet another medication that they have me on called Tacrolimus. Tacro is given as an immunosuppressant to, again, make sure that my old body and my new cells get along. They've started me on a low dosage of blood pressure medication just tonight. It's most likely temporary, but it's difficult to not have any control over your systems.
Tomorrow, Day +6 is another big day. I'll have an infusion of IVIG. WebMD describes the need for IVIG as:
Your body's immune system normally makes enough antibodies to fight germs that cause infections. But if you have an immune deficiency, your body can't make enough of them. ... IVIg gives you antibodies that your body is not making on its own so you can fight infections.
Tomorrow is also my third dose of mexthotrexate - the "chemo light", so big day on the ol' IV pole.
So we'll see tomorrow if my WBC finally hits the magic number, which is a big zero. Once I hit zero, the next thing that I'll be waiting for is that number to climb again, which will mean that my new cells will have found their home in my bone marrow and started to grow - a process medically referred to as "engraftment". It's also possible that I'll need my first transfusion tomorrow. My hemoglobin is holding steady, but it's possible that I'll need platelets, as they transfuse when your platelets drop below 10.
Rest assured all. I'm just doing my thing. Controlling the things that I'm able to (mouth care, exercise, good personal hygiene) and rolling with it for the things that I can't.
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