It's going well! Well, it's still chemo, but I'm very thankful that it's not as debilitating as I feared. I've been home over a week and feel about 95% normal again. Yesterday, I was able to venture out on my own! I took myself to the outpatient clinic in Memphis for a check up and then did a bit of shopping afterwards. I'll admit my body was screaming at me to chill out after awhile, but the fact that I could be indepedent, mobile, and fully functioning is a great victory to me. (You all know how bull-headed I can be about doing things for myself. Ha!)
Blood work from yesterday's check up was promising. My white blood count was a 4.5! Anything above a 2.0 means my immunity is working at a good level and I don't have to be so hard core about getting sick. Which means my family's annual Thanksgiving trip to Branson is a "go" and I don't have to be paranoid about new places/people. Yes! My platelets were 19 but I did not have to receive an infusion and again, I'm thankful!
The most puzzling thing is that I'm taking immunosuppressive chemotherapy, but with a WBC count of 4.5, my immunity is better now than before I started chemo. Hmmm. I definitely have some questions for my doctor on Thursday, but I'm going to just say, "Thank you, Jesus!" and be grateful.
My cyclosporine pills are still nasty but their side affects have diminished and are now minimal. Let's just say I'm no longer cold natured. (And I'm actually really thankful for that too - cold feet in the summer is ridiculous.)
Having to visit the outpatient cancer center for my check ups has been a real eye opener. The center is full of people getting follow-up care and monitoring for their different cancers/diseases. The nurse in charge is a lady named Christie and from what she's told me, I am rocking my aplastic anemia. She made a comment yesterday about how two people in my waiting area had aplastic anemia too, but they had to visit the center 3 times a week and constantly receive blood tranfusions. Oh. my. word. These people are literally relying on other's blood to live. God forgive me for any moment of self-pity I may have. I am truly blessed and thankful for my health - it could always be worse.
I've taken a huge sigh of relief lately. Just knowing I don't have to be so germaphobic is absolutely life changing. I pray my counts continue to get better and better and before I know what has happened, I'll look back at this time as just a bump in the road.
Until the next update!
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