More tests and results

I didn't realize till I arrived on Tuesday that the MUGA heart scan could not be done the same day as the bone scan, as the radioisotopes used for both are too similar to one another.  So I had it rescheduled for Thursday, 2/5.  After waiting over an hour, I finally got in, but I had a very important "meeting" (ok it was lunch with my friend John...) so I put off the test till yesterday.

The MUGA scan was interesting.  They remove an aliquot of blood via IV, mix it with the isotope and let it sit about 20 minutes, then put it back in via IV and take pictures of the labelled red blood cells' path through your heart.  This is a way to determine any damage to the heart, and since two of the chemotherapy meds that I'll be on are known to affect the heart (in less than 5% of people, but still high enough to watch), this gives a baseline.  The gamma camera they use is the same one used for the bone scan and the (horribly painful) sentinel node tracing.  Your body slides into the machine and the cameras are lowered to the area where the image needs to be taken.  Sometimes the camera is right over your face (that's the hardest for me to deal with!)  It looks something like this:

I also got the results from my blood and other tests pre-chemo.  I've had low platelets for, quite possibly, all my life.  About 6 years ago, I visited a hematologist, who diagnosed me with ITP (idiopathic/immune thrombocytopenia purpura)--an autoimmune disease.  He explained that when they couldn't find any other reason for the low platelets, this was the diagnosis they used.  Well, my medical oncologist is also a hematologist and she ordered additional tests which I'd not previously had done to try to get to the root of my low platelets.   There has been a connection between Helicobacter pylori (which also causes ulcers) infection and low platelets, and if you treat the H. pylori, the platelets return to normal levels.  So Dr. Shah ordered that test, but it came back negative.  However, she also ordered anti-platelet antibody tests, and 2 of the 6 came back positive.  It's killing me that I don't know exactly what that means.  If any of you know what it means to have a positive eluate but negative plasma, please let me know!  Otherwise, I guess I just wait until Wednesday and my appointment with Dr. Shah.  I was surprised that my platelets are back over 100K (any benefit from the platelet transfusion during surgery is long gone), but still disappointed that my hemoglobin is 7.6 gm/dL (normal is 12-16).  So three iron tablets a day.  Ugh!

My exercises/stretches are helping, I think.  The cording on the right side is still causing the most pain, as well as decreasing my range of motion.  Other than that, the healing seems to be going pretty well.  I'm anxious to see what Dr. Sterkin has to say on Monday when I go in for my next expansion.  Hopefully the last of the steri-strips will come off, too.

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I have been enjoying catching up with friends now that I have so much free time.  If I counted correctly, I've done something social (mostly gone out for coffee or lunch) eleven times in the last two weeks!  I'm not sure if I'm making up for lost time, or storing it up for the future.  Either way, it's been great to see all of you in the last month plus--definitely the best part of not having a job.  <sigh>

Today's weather was beautiful--sunny and (finally) above freezing.  It's the first time since surgery that I really wanted to go for a run.  Maybe I can get the go-ahead on Monday...