No Chemo for me

This is the second time that we have had to postpone my chemo because my platelet count was not right.  Dr. M said that it could be that the previous chemo affected my bone marrow.  He did not seem to act like there was anything we needed to do, which is a good thing, but it does affect the counts.  And here I had eaten spinach twice a day for two weeks because the Internet said that green leafy vegetables are good to eat for platelets.  Dr. M said that in my situation there was nothing wrong with eating all the spinach I could, but that it was not going to be enough for my platelets.  OK, then I am stopping that practice.  The last thing I want to do is to look like Popeye.  I mean those forearms, really. And not only that I have plenty of collards left from New Years and Ms Moon shared some kale and arugula, so this week's green leafy vegetables is taken care of. 


And speaking of Ms Moon she got a picture of Dr. M and me at my visit.  It is a wonderful picture and you can see his halo.  I think he is better looking then in the picture, but he is pretty darn cute in the picture.  Because I am lazy and also to help myself to keep this journal I have vowed only to journal, not post pictures, so if you want to see Dr. M you have to go to Bless Our Hearts.  Of course, once I am faced with the right picture and enough time to sit down and figure this picture thing out I am sure that I will throw the old idea out.  But at this point I really have not been very worried about my lack of photos.  sorry.


Dr. M is really an amazing doctor he knew I was disappointed about putting off the chemo, so had come armed with good news.  There is a marker in the blood work that I do each time and from the last blood letting to this one my marker had gone from 27 to 8.  He said that he would never completely rely on markers, but they give you a sense if things are working.  And a drop like that is welcomed news.  After Dr. B meeting with us and telling me that there was no change and blah blah blah, I was getting so anxious about repeating this process.  I know now that something good has happened and we will have to get the PTscan to see exactly what, but I am not dreading the scan any more.  And Dr. B talked about changing my chemo treatments from Mondays to Wednesday because it will help me to loose less work that way.  He was so kind about it, if it makes my life better, of course we will do that.  Then I told him about hearing about how they were adding lung cancer to the miracles of aspirin.  He said he had not heard anything about it, and of course while my platelets are down and I am going through the treatments he did not want me to start another blood thinner.  I understood completely.  But he said he would look it up and see what they were saying, and I am sure that he will.  He also thought about it for a few minutes and started discussing all the ways that the low dose aspirin helps people, and he said that once I am through with this portion of the treatments that affect my platelets, no it was not a good a idea, but after that, he did not see any reason not to do it.  I appreciate that he talks to us and thinks things out rather then just saying, "no".  Then his nurse Bobbie called and told me to stop my calcium supplements.  Hmmm, having too much calcium in the blood is a marker of cancer affecting the bone.  It could also mean a lot of other things, so I will wait until I see him next to wonder about that. 


So with a free day Mary and I walked around lovely little Thomasville and looked in the stores and spent time in the antique mall.  Had tea and yogurt and then lunch at the Mexican restaurant. And still made it home by early afternoon.  


And since I got home I have had a visit from one of my dear past co-workers, Lewis Buckner and his wife, Dot.  Sweet wonderful people.  Then I heard from Chuchy


So no chemo, but still all in all a wonderful day.  Shoot any day with a friend laughing and talking is a wonderful day, and when that friend is someone like Ms Moon.  Well it is as charming as her name.  really.