Weekly Taxol Number 5

Taxol infusion number 5 went ok.  Being there every week is starting to get old.  This week I was given Chair Number 1, wohoo.  Not that there is anything special about it - it does have a window which was nice, but it is just about the same as all the other rooms.

See, I told you - it prettymuch looks like the other cell, I mean "room".

My counts have been steadily drifting downward :-(  My White Blood Cells (WBC's) were 8.4 after my first taxol and are going down every week, 5.8, 4.2, 3.9 and 3.2.  The Normal range is 4-11 so you can see the last two weeks my numbers have been below the "normal".  Low white cells are expected as chemo and the decadron (steroid I get before chemo to prevent allergic reactions) both are immunosupressive (big word for weakens the immune system).  I know the docs care more about the ANC, absolute neutrophil count which is calculated if you take the percent of neutrophils times the total white blood cells.  Before this infusion, my ANC was 1.6 (my neutrophils were 50% of my total WBC's so 50% of 3.2 is 1.6) which is on the low end, I am not sure what the cutoff is.  I have spent the week trying to take it easy and boost my immune system any way I can but I do have a little cough and my nose is very dry and stuffy.  I have been trying to eat well, rest, I even drank a little green tea, met a friend for lunch (boosted my spirits and made me feel normal for a bit) and after trying to do it for the longest time, I finally went for a walk.  It was a short walk, only 23 minutes but exercise helps the immune system so I plan on exercising regularly.  And I am making some chicken soup today :-)

And I lost another nail . . . I'm still working on a post about that.