Weekend Pass

As expected, my blood counts have continued to drop after finishing the chemo.  I had labs done last week and my Hemoglobin was 7.1 and platelets had dropped from 93 on Tues to 33 on Thursday.  I asked if we could go home for the weekend and be back for my next visit scheduled for Monday.  Even though counts were likely to continue to fall, the Dr. was ok with some R&R after giving me a transfusion of Red Blood Cells.  He just wanted me to be extra careful.

So a BIG THANKS to mom for driving me home to Blacksburg knowing that my counts would be getting lower.  I was either going to sit around in Richmond or sit around in Blacksburg.  She kinda prefers having the MCV hospital down the street!!  I think I behaved very well.  It was great to surprise the kids Friday afternoon when I arrived.  They had no idea.  I was able to see Chris off to soccer camp and go to a softball scrimmage and game with Katie.  Brant and I also enjoyed a short visit with friends out on their deck under the super moon.  But mostly I rested around the house and enjoyed sleeping in my own bed.

I did wake up with petechiae on Saturday - I figured you all would like a fancy new word like petechiae.  It can occur when the tiny blood vessels under your skin spontaneously erupt due to low platelets. Platelets are what help the blood clot.  Petechiae looks like red spots on your skin and for me it typically occurs when my platelets drop below 5.  I paged the Dr. on call to see if I should go to an ER for a transfusion.  He said I could if I wanted to, but that I should be fine until Monday.  We opted to stay away from sharp objects and wait until Monday.

Today I arrived for labs at around 9am which was a very busy time on a Monday. My counts were low...I am probably at my nadir (another fancy word meaning your lowest point before the blood cells start to recover).  My platelets were below 5 and my Hemoglobin was 7.0.  White blood cells are at 0.4 which isn't even high enough to report my neutrophils.  I was sent back to the treatment area for two units of platelets and a bag of red blood cells.  I had a reaction to the platelets - hives! I welted up all over my torso, arms and legs. It was very uncomfortable and itchy.  I had IV Benadryl, two doses of a steroid solu-medrol, and then lastly an IV dose of pepsid.  Apparently pepsid has antihistamine properties useful for more than just gastric problems.  They got in my two units of platelets and got the hives under control.  But by then it was 5pm and we decided to wait until tomorrow for the blood transfusion.  I am praying there is no reaction to it in the morning.

I was very disappointed that the hawks have left.  Last week I enjoyed watching two of them who spent lots of time around that vent stack.  I wonder if they had a young one that left.  One of the other guests said they saw a third bird that was smaller over at the park.  By Friday they weren't on the roof top nearly as often, so I wasn't too surprised on Sunday to not see them.  But they were fun entertainment.  Oh well...guess I will just go watch another episode of Downton Abbey with mom.  We are getting into Season 3 and will be so bummed when we are done!