Whoops

Platelet Count: 14

Get out your programs, calculate, 314 - 14 = I've somehow misplaced 300 platelets since last Monday. Praying to Saint Anthony did not find them again.

Monday sucked a bit, health-wise, but Tuesday I'd been feeling really well and happy and full of energy. It was liked I'd suddenly peaked over the worst of the side-effects and could finally move on. We went out for dinner, we watched a middling-good movie and I got a couple of nights of really good sleep. Wednesday I woke up feeling the same way. It was panning out to be a good day. But I'd had a couple of nosebleeds so I called the cancer center, because that's what they tell you to do, and they brought me in for a blood draw. My regular people weren't there so I had a new nurse and the oncologist on call ... not good.

Nurse calls us back and says "It's a good thing you came in. Your platelet count is 14,000." So you know the first thought I had was: "14,000! That's AWESOME!" and then it kicked in "...oh wait .... that means 14."

So I've got steroids for the next couple of days and the nosebleeds have stopped so no trip to the ER for a transfusion, and my pain goes down with the steroid rush, so that's cool too. No percocet regimen today. Regular doctor is back tomorrow and I have an appointment with him at noon, so we'll see what he says. I'm not stopping this chemo. I want this one to work and I'm not going to let these flippin' platelets ruin it.

But, hey, there is a silver lining now that I looked at the blood count print out the nurse gave me (which the doctor never gives me ... what's he hiding?) and everything else, including white and red is not only normal, but pretty close to good normal. The white is 10.10 (normal range is 4 - 10.80) and red is 4.74 (normal is 4.25 - 4.87).

Whoo hoo! So no getting sick eating from those bags of chips in the Internet Department. I can continue my Liz Lemon-type work-food grazing without fear of transmitted childhood illnesses.

***

A public thanks to the ladies of Ladies' Night --- Oh My God. That's all I'm sayin' and if you want to know more you've got to talk to the folks at Sweet Basil. The ladies brought the night over to the house so we didn't have to go out (providing me with the comfort of handling some medicinal weird moments in private) and it was fantastic fun! I love Ladies' Night. I don't know what I'd do without it.

By the way, the cousin/roommate was the BOMB again yesterday. He made us cake and coffee and provided a funky soundtrack to our chatting and then he did the dishes! Dude! What would this be like if I was still living alone in that crappy little house on West 11th? But I need suggestions. What is the male equivalent to a spa day? I owe him. Man, I wish we had a dog track.