Today I had the 3rd treatment of a 12 week Phase 2 process of chemo. Before I started the 12 weeks of Phase 2 my doctor explained the process and the possible side effects. She also said during the course of my weekly treatments there would probably be a time where my blood counts were too low and I would have to postpone that particular treatment until the counts got higher. Her exact words (with a sweet caring smile on her face) were "it is very common, do not worry".
In my mind I basically had 2 thoughts:
1. I have done so good with all of my treatments so far that maybe it won't happen...(Positive thinking - which I will continue!)
2. If it does happen, it probably won't be until at least treatment 7 or 8, maybe...
Let me repeat that I did have the 3rd treatment today.
Hallelujah!!! But today I got an unexpected dose of reality where I didn't know if I was going to be able to get the treatment. I heard the treatment nurse on the phone (with my nurse navigator) sharing some of my blood work results. Heart sunk. Then she came over and talked to me about it. My hemoglobin was a little low - not too low- but low enough she wanted to check. Also, my platelet count is supposed to be 100 or higher and mine was 99. 99! Are you kidding me! She would not go ahead with the treatment without doctor approval. We had already been told that we were lucky we weren't seeing the doctor today because they were swamped and running behind on appointments. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get approval. Thankfully it only took about 20 minutes for the approval to come, but that was a lonnggggggggggg 20 minutes!! And I will admit that I had a mini-breakdown. I cried for a few minutes but then remembered that everything was going to be okay! No matter what the outcome. If I had the treatment-wonderful. If I didn't have the treatment then we would reschedule and give my body time to build up those blood counts. I was going to be thankful either way. As the saying goes, I am too blessed to be stressed!
My next appointment is scheduled for Monday, December 23rd. I will prepare myself for the possibility of no treatment from now on. I don't mean in the negative way, I just mean in the realistic way. I know that God will take care of me and it will all happen in His timing!
Once again I feel like God revealed Himself today in many ways. One way in particular was the treatment nurse that I had. The one who called for treatment approval, and then ultimately administered my approved treatment. She has drawn my blood before but I had never had her as a treatment nurse, until today. She is what I needed today. What a blessing she was!!! All of the nurses are wonderful don't get me wrong, but this nurse was just so loving, empathetic, compassionate, and truly encouraging. She was so kind when I had my little break down. She took a lot of time to reassure me how common low blood counts were and she reassured me that it does not automatically mean that next time the counts will be lower than they were today. She was one of my gifts from God today.
I am thankful, truly thankful, for this day!
As I posted on Facebook this morning:
"This is the day that the Lord has made,
let us rejoice and be glad in it!"
Psalm 118:24
God is Good! All the Time!
Thank you for your love and support!
Karen my dad had treatments for two years. It is very hard when you hear that your counts are not high enough to where you can not get the treatment. My dad had that happen only once in his series of chemo. Hold on to the faith and yes it is always better to be prepared for a chance of no treatment. Hang in there you have always been a very strong person and you shall overcome this time in your life.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to say thank you for keeping this journal that you are doing. It is great that you are sharing your experience with the world. That was one thing I learned while being with my dad. There were so many of the people there that could not talk to there family about what was going on because it meant to many things for them. For my mom it meant admitting that my dad had lung cancer. I think by your doing this your giving the friends and family members away to learn about it and to sort of know how to handle something like this. A person who has cancer needs all the support they can get. Again I think you are doing great and thank you for being such a strong couragous person that you are.
Hey Mrs. Neal get well soon and stay strong..
ReplyDeleteHope you get well soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you did these post because I didn't. I wrote some of it on the calendar, but not all. I had similar things going on. I had lung cancer. They said I am in remission. I've had to clear CT scans. I am to have another in Aug. People really don't know what is going on when someone has chemo and radiation and how much it takes out of you. I had radiation to my head finishing up in Mar. I lost all my hair again and I still have no hair. I am so glad your treatment is going great.
ReplyDelete