Spirits High, Blood Cells Low

Hi everyone. Mom is doing ok this week. She is staying with Ann and Dan Rhudy in Christiansburg for a few days while John spends time with his family.

Mom is now 7 days out from chemo, which is when her blood cell count reaches a nadir. Some background: all cells in our bodies are constantly being broken down, and new ones are constantly made to replace them. Different tissues in the body have different 'turnover' rates. Hair, intestinal, and cancer cells are types that turnover fast, and all are the most disrupted by chemo. In general, chemotherapy does not kill cells that are already alive, but disrupts the cell cycle of cells that are being made (technically, Rituxan is an exception to this rule as it marks CD20 positive B cells for destruction). It takes about 5-7 days for the alive blood cells to die off, and they are temporarily not replaced due to the chemo. Hopefully, the dividing cancer cells are not replaced at all - that's the point!

Accordingly, due to low red and white blood cells Mom is feeling very weak right now. Physically she is able to move around and she's loving Ann's cooking, but she just does not have much energy due to her low blood cell counts. This is expected. She went to see Dr. McCoy (hematologist/oncologist) today, and he is going to give her a blood infusion so that her red count increases. Her white blood cell count should begin to increase again towards the end of this week. She is most suceptible to infection at this point.

Mom has not felt too nauseated from the chemo (knock on wood), but it does appear that some of her hair is starting to fall out. She has an appointment with McCoy tomorrow to get the blood, and another on Thursday with Dr. Stoeckle (surgeon) to look at her wounds. She is still receiving coumadin, but her blood has maintained an appropriate "viscosity".

She hopes to give another update herself soon.