Delayed

Well, today didn't go as planned. We got up early, got Claire off to school and James off to daycare, picked up our other car from the shop, stopped at Starbucks and got to the cancer center at 8:45 a.m. --  15 minutes early even. I was ready to get chemo over with.

The first stop is always to tap my port and get some blood, then the doctor or her PA, Jen. Today it was Jen. Unfortunately, my white blood cell count was low. Too low for chemo. They ran it a second time and it came back even lower. UGH. I'm not going to lie: instant tears. I really want to get this period over with. Not to mention the fact that you schedule your life around your chemo schedule. I estimate a week "off" for feeling like crap. And last time it took 10-12 days before I started feeling decent. I have a slew of appointments Oct. 31 through Nov. 2, not to mention Halloween and Claire's aerial showcase (I missed the last one because I was in the hospital) and we're going to Florida Nov. 3 (Yes, we have travel insurance, etc.). So, I'll either feel crappy or have to miss some things.

Jen's response was, "Well, what can we do to make sure you don't feel so crappy? Come in for IV fluids every day?" YES. That would help immensely. The best thing to do to feel a bit better and to get the chemo out of your system is to drink lots of water but, being nauseous and sleeping a lot I can still only do so much. So I'll go in every day they will let me. Maybe get some good nausea meds while I'm at it. I hope that helps. 

When your white blood cells are this low it also means you have to be very careful not to get sick. That's why I avoid sick ones, many people take their kids out of daycare (wasn't really an option for us), etc. I've never had low blood counts since this process started. I asked if they could give me something -- like the Neulasta they give me right after chemo to help bring my white counts up, but she said no. We wait a week, no less than a week and try again. I'm going to be so nervous next week hoping they came back up. 

I know it's not the end of the world and I'm grateful to have a week of feeling good, but it's still disappointing. It was a crummy, rainy day and I gave myself a pass. I accomplished nothing, watched some TV and took a nap. Maybe I need to be doing a little more of that and get those counts up! 

Thanks for all the well-wishes today. Fingers crossed for next week!