Becoming a Believer in Chemo

A week and a half has passed since I started chemo and I'm amazed at the response my body has had to the treatment. My oncologist says that I'm having the best response to this chemotherapy that he has seen. Hey, I like that! First off, like I figured, the infection I had in December was harder on me then the chemo has been. That said, what the chemo has done to my body is far from being taken lightly. My white blood cells have decreased 10-fold and are now in the normal range. My platelets are rebounding quickly towards normal and my red blood cells are holding their own on the underside of normal, so I'm slightly anemic. The tumors in my lymph nodes seem to be dissolving before my eyes. The only real bothersome issue for me right now is fairly severe pain in my abdomen, most likely from an internal tumor. It seems to be giving quite the fight as it gets hit with the chemo.

Here's the really good news and potentially scary if I'm not extremely careful...my lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell which are the cancerous part) have plummeted to just about 0. Yes, that's a zero! Yay, the chemo is doing its part to kill the cancer. However, it has also killed my remaining healthy lymphocytes, making me even more at risk of getting infections. Thus, I and everyone who comes in contact with me, needs to be super vigilent in not transferring germs to me. For instance, if you have been around sick workers, partners, friends, kids, but are not sick, and/or you're getting over a cold, my guess you are probably covered with enough germs to make me sick. I think it would be a real drag to have the chemo working so well, but die from an infection. Sadly, this scenario happens too often in those with leukemia like myself.

Thanks for the voice mails, emails, text messages, funny emails, etc. Even if I haven't responded, I really, really appreciate you thinking about me and it helps tremendously.