Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Low WBC Again

I had to do another Neupogen shot (by myself!) today, because my white blood cells were low again. Which I knew because I always get a fever! This should be the last time until radiation is over. Then I wonder if this is going to be a regular 2 week thing--get chemo, 10-14 days later get a fever, wbc low, get shot, repeat every 2 weeks! As I've said before I seem to be very sensitive to the Oxaliplatin. It'll be nice not to have it for awhile. The nurses and doc don't expect the 5FU that I'll have with radiation to be too hard on me.
As for the nausea, we'll work on it more when we restart the chemo process. The doc just said there are other things we can try. For now, if I still have some mild nausea (I think I'm over the bad stuff), I should try ginger and since I seem to feel worse when I'm moving around, I can try a patch for motion sickness. He said these are "old-school" remedies that seem to work. He told me to call if I have any more trouble. I got a lot of sympathy from everyone when they found out I've spent most of the last 8 days in bed! I love my nurses! Plus, I haven't been eating much, and that concerns them too. My hubby is going to make sure I start eating some protein now that I'm doing better.
Next Thurs, the 18th, I meet with the radiation therapist, and he will do a ct scan and plan everything out for radiation. I assume I'll start radiation the next week, but don't know for sure. The same day I start radiation, I'll also get hooked up to the pump with the 5FU chemo. I'll wear that 24/7, stopping in at the cancer center once a week for blood tests and a refill. Radiation will be everyday, Monday-Friday, and it will all last 5.5 weeks. Then I'll restart my chemo rounds. I'll have 8 more rounds(rounds 5-12). All that should take me thru mid Nov, at the earliest.
Not feeling too much pain from the shot yet, but I did take 3 ibuprofen and 2 Tylenol before I did the shot! I expect I'll have some spine pain eventually, but it should only be when I move, and then only last for a moment. Not too bad. :)
After my appt. today we did manage to get groceries-boy did that wipe me out. I'm still pretty shaky--I have to work on getting my strength back. After, I ate lunch, did my shot, and took a nice nap!
Thanks for the prayers for my cousin's family--its still so bizarre that he is gone. I can't imagine what they are going thru. I just keep praying!
That's all for now...
Love,
Tina

1 comment:

  1. Please ask your doctor about taking an Aleve and a Claritin before your shots. Honestly, there is something in the combination of the two, taken once daily for three days (first day on your shot day) that makes the pain more bearable. If you need my drs office information to give to your dr for reference, email me. At this point, anything helps. Also, try the ginger tablets (I posted a link about this, and I can try to find out more information if you need it) - they say it helps when taken prior to chemo.

    Thinking of you...

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