Halfway to Home Plate

January 22, 2013

Six treatments down and six more to go until the end of this grueling process. (Knock on wood). (Knock on wood many, many times).  People ask me all the time, how are things going?  And I always respond, "Today it's....".  Sometimes they laugh a bit, sometimes they are confused. 

"Today?" They ask me.  Because they're asking about the overall process.  But I have to remind them that every day is a new day.  This past off week (I call the week Donny doesn't have treatment his 'off week'), Donny has been the strongest I think I've seen him.  He didn't have itching, he wasn't too tired, he didn't need his anti-nausea medication, he worked Friday and Saturday night, went to breakfast with me Sunday and out to dinner for my birthday Sunday night.  Needless to say, we've been busy, and he's been strong through it all.  A little tired at times, but overall feeling well.  When we got his numbers back yesterday, we found out why he was feeling so great.

Last week, Donny's White Blood Cell count was the highest it has been since he started treatment.  Thus, why he felt so great.  Yesterday, his White Blood Cell count was one of the lowest it's been since he started treatment.  I asked the nurse how this could be possible.  He had treatment two weeks ago, so why are his numbers dropping now?  She explained that with ABVD treatment, this is actually very common because there is a delay in the chemical process that sometimes doesn't affect the cell count until the second week.  Which is why his blood count was good in his off week (one week after treatment) and why it was so low before his treatment (two weeks after).

Dr. P. surprised us and stopped by for a minute to say hi and to ask Donny how he was feeling. He asked a few questions and that was about it.  He still wants to monitor Donny's liver enzymes to make sure they are normalizing after being off the Fluconozole (anti-fungal medication). 

We told Dr. P. that Donny ended up going to the GI doctor last week to get that spot on the PET scan checked out.  He was really happy about that and wanted to know what the GI doctor thought.  Basically, Dr. K. (the GI doc) didn't think it was at all related to Donny's cancer and was not overly concerned about what he saw on the PET scan.  He actually said it didn't look like anything was really there, but that he doesn't read PET scans for a living, so he'd have to trust the technicians that read the scan.  He said the chances of a 27 year old male having polyps or anything of that nature is rare, but that it's better safe than sorry.  Donny has another appointment with the GI on Feb. 11.

After Dr. P. left, it treatment went by quickly.  Donny brought his iPad, so we got to watch Shark Tank on YouTube.  It made the time pass very quickly!  I'm slowly falling in love with that iPad.  What a great piece of technology.

Anyway, we got home and Donny felt like crap.  He can't explain to me how he feels except "bad".  He's tired, worn down and hot then cold, hot then cold.  But, as always, once Donny has something to eat, he starts feeling better.  That's really the key, and he no longer fights me about it.  Once Donny eats, he gains a little more strength.  Although he still feels "bad", he feels well enough get up to go to the bathroom or to the kitchen.  After dinner, we started watching our beloved Blackhawks (SO excited they're back!!!) and Donny fell asleep for the night.

We'll see what the next to weeks bring us.  As I said, every day is a new day.  Hopefully, my birthday wish will come true and Donny will have smooth sailing from here on out.  Keep saying your prayers...it's been a long stretch, but we're half way there.