Taxol Week 7/12

Going to my weekly oncology appointments is getting pretty exciting for several reasons.

1.  My oncologist and I get to "ooooh" and "ahhhh" over how the cancerous area is shrinking.  That is very exciting.

2.  As each week passes, I am closer to being done with chemo.  My last Taxol treatment is scheduled for 1/30. 

3.  I never know when I am actually going to get my chemo.  It is always exciting to find out how low (or high) my ANC will be.  This determines whether I get chemo that day, or if I need to receive a neupogen shot and try again the following day.   Control freak here is learning to bask in the excitement of the lack of ability to plan.

We were scheduled for my oncologist visit, labs and chemo treatment today.  Today was exactly a week after my last treatment, so my hope was that my white blood count and ANC were high enough for chemo.  We have more travel plans tomorrow so we can celebrate Christmas with Drew's side of the family. 

What does this face tell you?

Unfortunately, my ANC was .7 today.  This means I am neutropenic and can't receive treatment.  I received my benadryl, steroids and neupogen shot today in hopes of getting my counts up tomorrow for a 2nd attempt at chemo.  The control freak in me has attempted to put formulas on the effects of neupogen and good nutrition in raising my counts for planning purposes.   For example, a couple of weeks ago I attempted chemo on Monday; but my ANC was too low at .3.  I figured it would be up to 1.5 the following day based on calculations using the % increase in past ANC counts after receiving the neupogen injection.  However, the following day, my ANC was .7.  So, I received another injection the following day--resulting in an increase to 1.  Finally, that Thursday, my ANC raised to 18.  So, the following week when my ANC was again too low at .7 a day prior to my scheduled chemo, I figured it may still be too low the following day as it was the previous week.   However, it shot up to 12 and I was able to receive treatment on schedule.   So, I have given up trying to predict what will happen and just enjoy the excitement of reviewing my labs each week.  This control freak is continuing learning to give up certain things out of control to God, who is already orchestrating things anyway.  There is a reason for all of this and I am just going with the flow, enjoying the ride and my "me time" in the infusion room.    Hopefully tomorrow's post will include a happy face photo!