Going with the Flow - Round 2

Hi all, in contrast to the unpredictable crazy weather the two days following Laura's second Cisplatin treatment (72 on Tuesday and 32 today), she is consistent in her ability to handle her recent challenges. For the first night, Laura tried a different medication (Ativan 1/2 pill) that she had not previously used, hoping that she might be able to sleep past 4:00 a.m., and sure enough, it worked. Laura has been able to sleep through the last two nights and although the chemo is producing its usual fatigue, she is pleased about her restful nights. And the best news of all: no bad nausea! In fact, Laura was able to enjoy some pretty good food last night- in particular, the whole wheat crust pizza that Joshua made for dinner. Laura even rallied later in the afternoon for a 40 minute slow walk on the treadmill - awesome. We are hoping that the rest of this week follows in the same manner!

With this good report comes some concerns. As Laura indicated in her last post, her white blood cell count was down. The normal range is 4.5 to 10. With the 1.6 white blood cell count at her second treatment, we are concerned about neutropenia and infection, so we will have to be ultra careful about cleanliness- not only with respect to hygiene but also in food preparation. And Laura won't be venturing out and about as much now. We're hoping that her white blood cell count doesn't drop below 1, preventing a scheduled treatment.

In short, things are "going well" and Laura continues to do what she needs to do - and with the same steadfastness she has displayed thus far. Go Laura !! As stated in one of Muhammad Ali's uplifting quotes:

“Don’t count the days, make the days count.”

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