Friends, Friends, Friends, We Will Always Be

Sat Apr 6 2024 - 11:00am
AML 3.0 treatment - Day 19

Only my brother (and maybe my mom) will get the title of this blog.

Short Saturday update since folks have been asking about the "nadir." Quick answer: counts are not yet recovering... or at least platelets aren't. Despite the transfusion earlier this week, platelets are really low... like dangerously low. When platelets get down to single digits, it's not good. As of Friday 1pm, they were at 11k, so I can only imagine they are at 8k or 9k as I type this.

So, I have an appointment for 4:00p today to get platelets. Was hoping it would be earlier in the day as this will be right in the middle of the Men's NCAAB semis, but on the bright side, it means I can watch all of Floyd's SRHS baseball game.  Looks like it's only one bag so unless they start recovering on their own, I bet I'll need another bag on Tuesday. 

So why the blog title? Visits from two good friends this week. Great to see you Chad and Gaurav (and Stuthi - not pictured).

I may look somewhat normal in these pics, but I'm not. It's more the environment than anything else (i.e. Luskin bar and sitting area vs. a hospital room and the fact that this chemo doesn't make your hair fall out). In the picture with Chad I'm sipping a home made Blueberry Lime soda after a walk around campus.

Visits from friends are very tiring but they are also very good for my spirit and soul. I just really hope my energy increases so I can be present for Heather and Floyd's visit next week and so I can join them for some college visits. Plus, I need to move out of here Wednesday morning. Just packing up will be exhausting. Loading all my stuff in the car and then unloading at the new place seems daunting. Late check-out and/or early check-in would be super-helpful. Fingers crossed. Why am I moving? See the bottom of my previous post.

What else... some folks have been asking about walks and energy, etc.

Energy is still really low. Anything physical or even cognitive is tiring. I attended a two-hour monthly review for my team (on Zoom) at work Friday morning and had to nap right after. Even reading is tiring so I haven't made as much progress on the book I'm reading. Instead it's watching sports and shows. Phils if they're playing and college hoops (Go Caitlin!) or one episode of something per night before bed. I finished Season 2 of Reacher and have now started 3 Body Problem which is really weird. Only on episode 2 -- no spoilers!

On walking... I've walked every day except last Monday. Sometimes it's hard just to leave the room, but I force myself to do it. I don't log all walks, but I do log many. You can see all that I log (and follow me) here on my Strava.

That's it for now. Still low energy most of the time, but hanging in there. Next big appointment this Tuesday. Will learn a lot more about the next weeks/months then.

[UPDATE 5:30p]

Arrived at 3:55p for 4:00p platelet transfusion appointment. They didn't call me back until 4:45p. Then it took not one... not two... but three attempts to get a good vein for the transfusion. Any idea how fun that is? At least it's in now (TWSS) and I'm getting platelets as I type this.

We are running out of vein space to use for transfusions. Since I'm likely going to need to get transfusions in the beginning of each cycle, I think we're going to need to try the Aza shots instead of the IV next time. Otherwise they might make me get a PICC. Don't want that.

Oh, and here's a video of one of those UCLA robots I mentioned in a previous post. Smart little bugger.

iwkiaaaa