Updates since last week

Last week, I continued to make really good progress on my treatment but I also experienced my first minor setback. First, the good news. I went in to see my oncologist last Tuesday. He wanted to schedule a visit being that it was my first chemo session and he wanted to see how I was doing following the first cycle. They told me that 8-10 days following chemo is when my white blood cell count is at its lowest meaning my immune system is at its weakest and I could be easily prone to infection (this is the reason why we flew back from Cancun a day earlier and I wore a mask on the plane the whole time). I drew blood work the day before my visit and we reviewed the results together. Based on my test results, my oncologists was very pleased with how things were going. He said that while my white blood cell count dropped, it dropped just below the cusp of what the lowest normal range should be. That means I was not losing that many white blood cells or they were able to recover faster. My red blood cell count was normal and so were my platelets count. Based on that, plus the minimal side effects I've experienced, he said that my treatment plan is going better than he expected! This was really good news and a small minor victory in my journey.

Two days later though, I came down with chills and a slight fever. The nurses in the oncology department told me that if I developed a fever to call them right away. However, it was at 2am in the morning. They were closed at that time and the only person around would be the general advice nurse and I knew if I called her, she'd say to go to the emergency room. And if I went to the ER at 2am, I'd be looking at a 3 hour wait time, not to mention all the potential germs I might contract just waiting in the ER room. I decided that it wasn't worth my time calling so I took a Tylenol instead and hoped that the fever would go away. I had a pretty restless night that night but when morning came, the fever did subside and I took another Tylenol. I emailed my oncologist about the fever and he said that if I wasn't experiencing any other cold/flu-like symptoms other than the fever, than it's probably an immune reaction to the cancer cells dying (a good thing he said). Since the fever had subsided, then he wasn't too worried about me having to come in to see him. I also called the oncology nurse and she agreed that it probably was a good thing I didn't call the advice nurse and go to the ER room. But they did tell me to call them (during business hours) if I experienced any other fever-like symptoms. So, while I had one restless night, the fever went away and I was totally fine by the afternoon. I also got a UTI infection (also from the chemo side effects) but I will save it for another blog story. They gave me antibiotics for it and I'm fine now. So, all in all, not bad for my first two weeks following chemo. If this is an indication of how the rest of the cycles will be, then I should be able to breeze through this in no time!

Over the weekend, a few other friends came by to visit me and we had another Head Shaving Party Part Deux. This time, my "poker crew" friends (a mix of college and post-college friends) also wanted to get in the action and support me on my journey. Half of them had never shaved their heads before so to me, it definitely showed how far each was willing to go to show their support and solidarity for me. I totally appreciated it and I must say, that everyone looks pretty good with a bald head. Maybe I can start a new trend?! Since the wives of these guys weren't that courageous enough to shave their heads (I don't blame them at all), they decided instead to grow their hair out so that they can donate it to Locks of Love. What a great idea! It just goes to show that there are many different ways that my friends are showing their support of me going through cancer treatment; whether it's shaving or growing out their hair, coming by to visit or to bring me food, calling or messaging me, or being my walking partner, I've certainly appreciated everything thus far that everyone has done for me. So again, thank  you to everyone for their support. It's great to know that I do not have to go through this journey alone and seeing everyone's support gives me the strength to journey on.