Please Don’t Hit Me, I Bruise Easily

It’s been about a week since my last update. I spend about half of that in my chemo-induced stupor. Every morning I have to make a conscious effort to recall what day it is. Most days it bothers me, but on Valentine’s Day it was very welcome. With all the crap that I deal with on a daily basis, one would think that Valentine’s Day wouldn’t bother me, but I still hate it. I am not going to go on a V-Day rant though. I do have to thank my friends and family who gave me gifts and cards. They were all much appreciated.

My white cell counts were up high enough to receive treatment this week. The number was just above the normal range – by 1/100ths of a point. Because I’ve had to miss two treatments due to low white cell counts, my doctor has decreased my dosages by 20%. Initially, I was concerned because it seems that logically the treatment wouldn’t be as effective at a lower level. I discussed this with Dr. W and he explained that they have discovered that it is more effective to receive treatments on time at a lower dosage than to have the schedule continually interrupted.

My INR was also tested on Monday. The INR is the ratio used to test the viscosity (thickness/thinness) of the blood. When it was tested Friday, there had been no change – it was holding at 1.2. That meant that the shots continued through the weekend. On Monday, it jumped all the way to 3.9. Oops! It looks like we overshot the goal of 2.0. The shots have been halted for now and I took a couple days off from the coumadin and restarted at a lower dosage. I’ll go back on Monday to have my INR tested again. They never seem to think twice about taking blood from someone who is anemic.