Not today

Sherrie was rejected for chemo again today. Her blood count was 27 on Friday (not 17 as I reported) and was 1.7 today. She has to have another round of 5-6 Neupogen shots this week and we'll try again next Monday.

Over the hump

Sherrie made it over the hump around Thursday night or Friday. She's been much better since then. Her white count was high enough on Friday (17 I think) that she should be able to receive the second part of this round of chemo on Monday.

Sherrie was feeling so well that she went mountain biking with me on Saturday. We went up Logan canyon and road up the dirt road that follows Beaver Creek up into Idaho. We rode a little over four miles up the road, stopping to rest a couple of times in the shade. We then had a nice coasting ride back down to where we had parked the truck. We saw what appeared to be active beaver dams and lodges along the way. It was beautiful and we had a fun time together.

The end is in sight. If all goes well tomorrow, we can start to say, "only one more round of chemo!"

A bad few days

Sherrie has had a bad few days since her treatment. She has vomited a few to several times each day, and has trouble sleeping at night. She's getting very bored laying around, but doesn't feel well enough to do anything else. This "nasty" treatment has been harder on her than any of the others. She's in good spirits considering what she's going through, but it's hard on her.

Chemo cycle number five begins

Sherrie began chemo cycle number five today. We met briefly with the oncologist, who looked over her lab reports and gave her an exam. He said her white count was less than ideal, but that she could still go ahead (yeah!). He scheduled her to begin receiving Neupogen shots tomorrow, and a lab for Friday. If her count is okay, she'll get the second part of this treatment a week from today (Monday).

The chemo infusion went according to routine, except that as the nurse began, Sherrie said, "I think I'm going to throw up." The nurse went looking for a barf bag, and I watched Sherrie turn white, close her eyes, put her hand to her mouth, and will it to stay down, which it did. After an interminably long time, the nurse finally found a bag and brought it to Sherrie. She had a dry heave or two, and then was okay for the rest of the treatment. Whether it was the large cup of red Sobe we bought on the way to doctor, or the nurse in her blue smock, something set her off.

So we now have a few days of some vomit and bad nausea, and then the worst of cycle five will be over.

From 40 to 2.6 in a week?

Sherrie had a lab today, preparatory for chemo on Monday. Her white count last Monday was 40, but today it was 2.6. Is that a record for a rapid white cell count drop?

So, we are a bit worried that chemo may not go on Monday. We think that last time, they just took the lab results from a few days prior and went with it. We are hopeful (?) that they don't do another test and find a count that is too low. Or, maybe we should hope that they do a test and find it is too low and give her more shots so it's not dangerous? 

CBC update

Sherrie just finished a week of Neupogen shots, and her CBC today was over 40. That is very high; can it be too high? We hope that it stays up high enough over the next week that she can start chemo on schedule next Monday.

Chemo was successful

Sherrie's chemo on Monday was successful, in that her blood count was high enough (22!) and she had the treatment. This one was the "easy" one, so it's been relatively low impact. She's felt pretty well all week, though she's a bit more tired than normal.

She started on Neupogen shots on Tuesday, and will have them through Monday (tomorrow). I think she's going to have a CBC tomorrow as well, so we'll likely know if her count is good or not.

Sherrie is scheduled for another round of chemo on the 17th. She's supposed to have a lab on the 14th to see if her count is high enough; hopefully it will be.

Try again early next week

Sherrie heard from the doctor today: they want her to take more Neupogen shots over the weekend and have a CBC on Monday for a possible chemo attempt on Tuesday.

She feels quite discouraged because the Neupogen doesn't seem to be working very well. She is worried that each of the final two rounds will have a similar story, and extend her even longer.

We'll obviously be consulting with the doctor on this next time we see him.

CBC still too low

Sherrie had a CBC this afternoon and got some discouraging news: the total count was 1.2. That's too low for chemo. The results were faxed to the doctor, and we'll wait to hear from them what they want to do next.

Needless to say, Sherrie is discouraged. It's frustrating for her to want to be done, but to be held hostage by her body's inability to keep up.

No joy today

Sherrie was denied chemo again today. Her blood count was too low (1.3 total white count), and her infection fighters were especially low (0.4). So, she's going to get Neupogen shots for the next three days, and then try again with a CBC on Wednesday for Friday chemo.

She took it in stride, though she's disappointed. She really was hoping to be all done by the time school starts, but that doesn't look likely right now.

As the doctor said, it's much safer not to do chemo with such a low count, even if it pushes the schedule back.

Report on latest chemo round

Sherrie began another round of chemo (number four!) on Monday of this week. Like clockwork, she threw up around 9:00 that night. She seemed to get a bit behind on the nausea on Tuesday and Wednesday (maybe because her scrip for Compazine ran out?), and had a rough couple of days.

She went on her morning walk this morning (Thursday), and seems to be feeling better. Hopefully she'll bounce back quickly.

The oncologist ordered Neupogen to start Tuesday the day after chemo. Maybe it will work well enough that she can get part two of this round next Monday.

Chemo cycle number four

Chemo cycle number four starts today. Sherrie had a CBC on Friday, and her white count was only 3.4 or so. That's not very high, but I think it will be high enough to start (hopefully; unless it has gone down more since then).

Sherrie has lost almost all of her eyelashes and eyebrows. I'm sure that whatever is hanging on will be gone within the next cycle. I know it's kind of a big deal to her, but I think she looks great, and she needn't worry about losing them.

Chemo report

Sherrie's blood count was high enough yesterday (10.0), so she had the 5-FU chemo yesterday. It went quickly and well, with no surprises or issues. She felt a little queasy later last night, but seems to be feeling okay today.

She was going to take herself to the doctor today (non-cancer related visit), but her eyes were tired and she had trouble driving, so I took her instead.

She's on Neupogen shots again for the next six days, and she'll have a CBC next week to make sure her white count is high enough.

Sherrie is now officially halfway through chemo; three more cycles to go!

Another setback today

Sherrie had another setback today. Her CBC showed a total white count of 1.8, and the "infection fighting" white cells at 0.5. The former has to be over 2.5, and the latter over 1.0, or they won't do the treatment. So, no chemo today.

The plan is to have a batch of Neupogen shots over the next several days, and then try again next Monday.

Sherrie was quite disappointed. As she said, she's a person who likes to keep to schedule, and having these hiccups is hard to swallow. But by this evening, she was feeling better. She knows it's best to be safe; getting an infection would be far worse. So she's being patient and strong.

End-of-week update

Sherrie is starting to feel better. She had a rough few days since Monday. She managed to keep food down after Monday night, but she's been quite nauseous and tired since then. Last night she started to feel better, and she seems more chipper, so we're hopeful things will be looking up. If we can keep her from getting "anticipatory nausea" on Monday, she should be able to have a good couple of weeks.

She starts Neupogen shots on Tuesday, and this time she'll get six of them. We will make sure we find out what her white count is when she is done, and if it's not high, we'll contact the doctor and see how to proceed.

The last vestiges of her "normal" hair have fallen out, and she's left with very fine, hard-to-see white hairs. She still has her eyelashes and her eyebrows, and she's hopeful she'll keep them a while longer (forever?).

This week while she was ill, she made a lovely crocheted hat out of bamboo yarn--it's soft and comfortable.

Chemo report

Sherrie's white count was quite high today (around 18!), so she received the chemo. The bone soreness which came with the Neupogen shots the time before last didn't occur this time. (The doctor says that when the shots are working well, the bone marrow expands and makes the bones ache.) Nevertheless, the shots must have worked, because her white count was high.

We've tried everything in the book to keep her from getting sick, but she still got sick and vomited tonight around 8:00 or so. I feel so badly for her; she's not feeling well at all. It will likely be a day or two before she can hold anything down, if past experience is any predictor.

Although she has another appointment next week for the second treatment in this cycle, it won't likely be bad at all, and so tonight she feels like she's halfway done. She's doing awesome!

Chemo today

Sherrie is scheduled for another attempt at chemo today. She had Neupogen shots on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Her hips ached a little, so hopefully that means the shots were working and building up the white cell count.

I'll tweet something later after we find out if she's able to receive the chemo today.

Disappointing setback

Sherrie wasn't able to receive her chemotherapy injections today. Her white blood cell count was too low, particularly the infection-fighting component (count was 700, anything under 1000 is considered bad).

As a result, Sherrie is going to have three days of Neupogen shots, and then another attempt at chemo will be made on Monday, depending on whether the white cells come back up.

Apparently, the fact that her count was so low "slipped through the cracks" as the doctor said. The white count was 3.5 after the last series of shots. The doctor said that if he had known that, he would have ordered more shots until the count came up.

So Sherrie's schedule has slipped several days. From now on, chemo will be on Mondays, assuming no more slippage.

Sherrie was a bit disappointed, as she had psyched herself up for chemo today, a bad weekend, and feeling better early next week. Now, we'll have to wait.

It's probably for the best, as getting sick with a low count would likely set her back much more than a few days, besides being a bit dangerous.

Cycle number three starts tomorrow

Sherrie starts chemo cycle number three tomorrow. She's had a great attitude the last several days, but started feeling a little nervous today. I think she's done marvelously at keeping a positive outlook through the whole ordeal. I can only imagine the feeling of dread that must come about now, but it doesn't show at all. She's a great example and my hero.

She had a CBC (blood count) today, but no word on her white cell count. I suppose the doctor will tell us tomorrow. After the last chemo injection two weeks ago, she started on Neupogen the next day. After five days of shots, her white count was only 3.6 or so. I think that the Neupogen and the chemo were having a battle for white cells. She didn't get sick, so the Neupogen must have won, though we wished the count had been a little higher after those five days of shots.

Nonetheless, she's made it through two complete cycles without getting sick (at least, nothing other than nausea and throwing up :-)

Her hair is essentially all gone. A lot of little nubs on the top of her head held on for quite some time, but they're pretty much all gone now. She rubbed many of them away in the last couple of days. Her head is sore in the spots where the hair is still falling out. She has a nicely shaped head, and I think she looks good bald, but nobody else will really get to see her that way; too bad.

We're hopeful that a combination of anti-nausea meds, ginger, and a positive outlook will keep the stomach problems away this time. After this cycle, she'll be halfway done!

Sherrie's "chemo 2" day

Sherrie had "chemo 2" yesterday (they gave her only 5-FU). She was getting quite nervous in the days leading up to it, even though she didn't really have a bad reaction the first time. The nurses explained this as "anticipatory nausea," and it's apparently quite real for many people. The nurses told us that they've met some of their patients months or years after chemo and the patients will have the dry heaves or even throw up when they see the nurses! So Sherrie has this association problem to deal with each time we go.

She felt better after the treatment, though she did feel a little nauseous last night. She hasn't been without nausea since the "chemo 1" treatment (all three drugs) last week. Hopefully she'll get feeling noticeably better today.

Sherrie had a CBC yesterday and her white count was already down to 2.5. The nurses said they wouldn't do the treatment if it fell below 2.0. Since she's starting a five-day course of Neupogen today, they went ahead with the treatment yesterday.

She also has some sores on her head, so the doctor gave her a prescription for an antibiotic given her low blood count.