Day +4
I feel like I have news today, and it’s good news. It may not seem like much, but it’s a pretty big deal to me. The news is that I feel significantly better than I have in quite a few days. To be prepared to feel worse and even expect it to a certain extent, and then feel better is a big gift or a small miracle to me. Early on, the doctors had said that most people start feeling worse starting on about Day +3 through about Day +9. So to start to feel better on Day +3 and continue to improve on Day +4 is no small thing. My appetite has pretty much returned and I don’t feel weak. The doctor says maybe I’ll be one of the lucky few who doesn’t get a neutropenic fever. Even if I do get one, I figure it will be shorter because I’m closer to the day when my counts start back up.
I asked the doctor about how we know when the new immune system has successfully eradicated the diseased bone marrow. He said they look at the circulating blood on a genetic level and can see the different markers for the different marrow. They then do a bone marrow biopsy/aspiration on about Day +21 to look at the actual marrow on a cellular and genetic level and can tell what the balance is. He said it’s usually about Day +30 when they see the old marrow eradicated.
WBC .2
Hgb 8.7
Plt 20
ANC 0.0
It looks like I might need another platelet transfusion tomorrow or sometime soon.
Feeling good (and feeling good about that) …
I asked the doctor about how we know when the new immune system has successfully eradicated the diseased bone marrow. He said they look at the circulating blood on a genetic level and can see the different markers for the different marrow. They then do a bone marrow biopsy/aspiration on about Day +21 to look at the actual marrow on a cellular and genetic level and can tell what the balance is. He said it’s usually about Day +30 when they see the old marrow eradicated.
WBC .2
Hgb 8.7
Plt 20
ANC 0.0
It looks like I might need another platelet transfusion tomorrow or sometime soon.
Feeling good (and feeling good about that) …
3 Comments:
Congratulations, Justin! That's tremendously exciting. I thought you were likely to come through the chemo better than average, but so far it's even better than I'd imagined and hoped.
Not being nauseous is good, but not being either nauseous or nauseated is even better!
Love,
Lisa
I'm so glad that you're feeling better! I feel like Lisa, I figured you'd do better than most expected but this sounds even better than I expected.
Love,
Bruce
It *is* a relief to learn that so far you're faring better than we dared hope. Regarding "markers," I get a kick out of the thought that one "different marker for the different marrow" will be the XX pair for chromosome 23.
Go, Justing, go!
Love,
Glenn
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