Levels 09-21-2010

Levels 09-21-2010

My levels are good: (see chart) wbc 5.4, rbc 4.62, hemo 13.8, platelets 161, gran abs 3.5.

As usual, click on the chart to view larger version, use browser's back button to get back here.




OK, I look at how my levels fluctuate and I CAN'T FIGURE AN EFFING THING OUT FROM THAT!

Or am I just stew-pid? Rhetorical question, please don't answer. Out loud, anyway.

I think I may need to graph that to see if there's any rhyme or reason.

OK, I graphed it (the Cs at the bottom show when I had chemo):


Note that to keep the chart readable, I had to do some manipulation on the numbers, e.g., divide the platelets by 20, etc. Otherwise the chart was unusable because the wide range of numbers flattened everything out.

Even after I chart it, I CAN'T FIGURE AN EFFING THING OUT FROM LOOKING AT IT!

Maybe it shows that taking prednisone brings your levels back up. And nothing much affects your rbc or hemoglobin. What is just occurring to me is that I should have charted my bike rides to see if there was any correlation with exercise and levels. Wait, that would be goofy.

OK, I'll admit it. Looks like the chart was a stew-pid idea. But it kept me entertained for a while. Maybe it's time to stop tracking this.

I have been feeling good and riding my bike quite a bit.

Last week at the end of the week I rode 21 mi. Thursday, 25 Friday, and 25 on Sunday, tonight I did 21. I don't feel exactly as good as I did pre-chemo. May through August I kicked the hills' asses. I could ride in a tall gear and climb the hills without hardly breaking a sweat or even grabbing a lower gear. Now it's definitely more of a chore and when I get to the top I am grabbing gears and chugging a bit. I had plans for this year, including at least a couple of centuries (100 mile rides). But that didn't work out.

If it weren't for the cancer and the chemo, I'd be pretty bummed about it. But I've basically taken every 3rd week off. It's hard to recover from that quickly, especially at my advanced age (I think my scientific name is fossil-us AARP-eligible-us).

I keep reminding myself I have FREAKIN' cancer, I'm in CHEMO-FREAKIN'-THERAPY and I'm fiftyFREAKIN' two years old. So I think the thing to do is thank my lucky stars and figure that next year will be my break out year, cycling wise.

Yeah, a break out year at 53. It could happen. Not.

I could break out in a rash, maybe.

Oh, another thing. Obviously my treatment has been going very well. I would like to take the proper amount of credit for that. Zero would be the proper amount. I think I've been doing well because of 1) the miracle of modern medicine, 2) excellent health care via Dr. R. and the staff at the clinic, and 3) dumb luck. And some stuff I've read seems to validate that viewpoint.

I spoke to a business acquaintance the other day who lost both parents to cancer. She told me her father had brain cancer. His chemo treatments were given 21 days out of every 28 for 20 months. He was miserable. At the end of it, he died anyway.

My treatments are 1 day out of every 21 for a total of less than 4 months (not counting maintenance). I have hardly been sick.

So I feel very fortunate and almost guilty. Things could be a lot worse.

So far, I've gotten a good prognosis, have had excellent care, and have barely been sick. If I beat this rap, it will be thanks to all the good care I am getting and me not screwing it up by doing something stupid.

Monday's my next chemo and I'm going to ask the doctor when he'll do another PET scan. I'm thinking that must be coming up pretty soon and I'm anxious to see how I'm doing.

If all goes well, I should be done with my chemo (except for the maintenance) before Thanksgiving. I don't remember the last time I was so excited about a holiday.

Hope all is well with you and yours. Don't put off that checkup!