Monday, March 9, 2009

Day +81

Things have been good over the weekend. I didn't have any fevers and felt great. Having nice weather for the first time in a few weeks was definitely a plus, and the family got to spend a lot of time outdoors. I did have to take some pain meds because of the back pain that comes with my neupogen shots, but thats not too big a deal.

At NIH today I didn't get the biopsy that the doctors told me they wanted. My lab results showed that my neutrophil count had risen significantly to 5.3, from .06 on Thursday. That makes the risk of infection a lot less likely, so its good to be out of the woods there.

The reason the doctors were thinking about pushing the bone marrow biopsy up to today was because I hadn't reacted to the neupogen shots last week. Since the shots apparently worked over the weekend, they decided to wait until the biopsy would be normally scheduled, which will be in two weeks. So I didn't have to deal with the pain today, but its still in the plans. Since I was taking the neupogen to create new neutrophil cells, the biopsy would likely show mostly new cells. The doctors hope by waiting a few weeks they will be able to get a more natural look at my bone marrow production, and hopefully see more mature blood cells.

Everything else seems to be good for now. My platelets bumped back up over 100, and my hemoglobin is over 10 for the first time in a while. The hemoglobin is especially good news in my mind, because the closer that gets to normal, the more energy I should have. With Isaiah at school today, Kate and I were able to take a quick bike ride this afternoon. I definitely had the energy and the lungs for it, but my leg muscles aren't in shape. Hopefully with better weather on the way, more outdoor activities will speed up my return to normal health.

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