Nadir

Today was my one week follow-up appointment with Dr. Shah (medical oncologist), to see how my body is tolerating the chemo.  One week is the beginning of the period known as nadir, which directly translates to "the lowest point."  In this case, it means the lowest point in blood cell counts.  And my counts are definitely in nadir!  Dr. Shah called my white blood cells "low" (1.8K), said my platelets are 34K, and my hemoglobin is back down to 9.5.  BUT despite those measures, she was not concerned.  She said that it appears that my body is tolerating the chemotherapy well.  I just have to watch for fever, body aches, etc. as my immunity is definitely suppressed.  She stressed being careful with interactions with other people, especially avoiding sick people, shaking hands, kissing, etc.  And I also need to be very aware of any bleeding since my platelets ARE low.  She told me to expect the exhaustion to build as treatments continue, but that the other side-effects shouldn't get much worse.  

Of course, as soon as I posted that I didn't have any side-effects, I started to get some!  :)  Nothing too terrible yet.  Mostly exhaustion that just appears, some stomach upset, and I finally realized that the taste of blood in my mouth was likely the metallic taste that comes with chemo.  Perhaps the most disconcerting one come from the steroids.  EAT ALL THE FOOD ALL THE TIME!!!  For two whole days I think I ate around the clock. And it wasn't just like I was nibbling on things--I was starving the entire day.  At my appointment today, I'd gained six pounds since last week.  That cannot continue happening.  Luckily, I only take 3 days of steroids and only following the first four rounds of chemo.  Already today I have switched to feeling "hungry" and not "ravenous."  Still, I cannot gain 6 pounds four times.  UGH!

I've also set up my next chemo treatment for Wednesday at 1:00, so I need to get going on that Excel spreadsheet of friends to take me.  It's the younger kids' Spring Break, so I have to decide whether to make both of them come along, or just Travis... :)  Either way, I see cribbage in my future.

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The other big thing that happened since my last post is that Greg and I finished watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I'm still processing the ending.  The cool thing is that we didn't realize it at the time, but we actually watched final episode on the 18th anniversary of the airing of the first episode.  I love Joss Whedon...