White blood cell count very low
Last edited Sat Jan 7, 2012, 08:15 AM - Edit history (1)
Well, I guess I was on the right track keeping people away from her. When I got to the hopsital yesterday morning, she was isolated due to low white blood cell count. Everyone, including all hospital staff, are required to wear protective masks when entering the room she is in. She wasn't looking or feeling well at all. They gave her some really high powered drug to help increase her WBC count and also gave her some Marinol to stimulate her appetite. Marinol? Now we're talkin! She ate more solid food yesterday than she has eaten in a week. Anyone who says marijuana has no medical benefit are fools. She looked much better when I left last night, and she was more lucid, yet still very weak. She remains isolated until they can get her resistance built back up.
She told me she had been hallucinating, but I think what she was having were very vivid dreams, a result of the drugs she has been given. We all know what hospital food is like, usually bland and tasteless, but what they served her yesterday actually looked and tasted better! Heck, even I wanted to dig into some of it. She is on an unrestricted diet, so she can have anything she wants.
Of course, I would love to go out and get her anything her heart desires, but I could not risk bringing in pathogens from an outside source. In this day and time, some people go to work out of necessity, regardless of their health issues.
I'm hoping her counts are up when I go in today, and she continues to desire and eat more solid foods. They can give her nutrition via IVs, but she needs her appetite restored. I'm going to request a lifetime prescription for her to Marinol (snickers).
As Slipslidingaway said in another thread here, it has really been a rollercoaster ride. Right now, it's one foot in front of the other, one day at a time. Each day seems to bring a new challenge. I hope in a few days she will be able to come back home, but I want her health stabilized first, no matter how long it takes. I will have help when she finally does get back home. A home health agency will provide an RN to monitor her health and therapists to assist in her recovery, and they will provide any needed durable medical equipment for her recovery as well as aides for bathing and hygene issues. Kinda makes those $25K/yr insurance premiums not so bad, now.
Hope there's more good news to post when I return this evening. I truly love you guys for your support and well wishes. It is so nice to have a place to share your emotions and frustrations with folks who have gone or are going through the similar experiences. Thank you all!
Uben
edit: While Carol was sleeping yesterday, I went down to the van to catch a short nap. As I was popping a DVD into the TV, I saw a chicken right in front of the van on the hospital parking lot. Now, I live rurally, so chickens are not uncommon to see cavorting about, but this was in the middle of a large city! It was dusk, and I also noticed other birds flying into the youpon trees in the lot to roost. Then I looked around and there were few trees to be seen anywhere, so I guess they just use what's available. Then, the chicken flew into the tree right in front of me to roost for the night! It was there when I left a couple of hours later. Weird.
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usually just a few shots of Neupogen does the trick, still be careful and make those burgers medium/well done 
Wash fruit and veggies well and peel the skin or at least cut away the stem portion. And be careful about take out food, we're still not there yet, except for a pizza that goes directly into the box and is not cut ... and expensive restaurants where they most likely cook the food to order. Hopefully you'll not have to worry about that for too long! Neupogen is the drug they give to stem cell donors to stimulate the marrow before donating and then also give patients going through intense chemo and after transplant to push the white cells to perform when the neutophils are zero, Neulasta is a longer acting form of Neupogen.
Glad to hear she is arguing with the staff and that you have some exercise equipment at home. Try and take care of yourself as well
from damage from Neutropenia. When I found out that I would be taking quite powerful chemotherapy drugs, I started doing research to find what I could so -SAFELY- to help my body avoid as much of the side effects as possible. Now, there's only been one relevant PEER reviewed study and it was focused on breast cancer patients BUT the outcome was so dramatic that the authors went on to say that due to the mechanisms that wheatgrass seems to exert on the body to help it undergo chemo and radio therapy, with VERY few exceptions, wheatgrass could and SHOULD be used with cancer treatment as a VERY valuable addition.
I know first hand as I found this study and started taking the wheatgrass, HEAVILY. Although I was required to take blood draws 2X a week because my particular cocktail usually causes at least mild neutropenia and anemia, my counts were PERFECT!! My doctor was shocked considering the fact that I was so debilitated when I began radiotherapy, (25 cycles) . After 3 cycles, doctor told me that he was no longer worried about WBC drops.
The study, as I said was peer reviewed and you can read a summary... http://www.FYIliving.com Once there, do a search with this quesry: WHEATGRASS BENEFICIAL FOR CHEMOTHERAPY PATIENTS.
I treat at Cancer Treatment Centers of American in Goodyear Arizona, (Phoenix, Arizona) and they have a juice bar where there are green drinks and wheatgrass shots, (organic, not the fungus ridden shots you get at your local juice bar). IT works...
Now, are you in a medical marijuana state? If you are, trust me, pure THC capsules and/or hashish capsules are MUCH BETTER THAN marinol. I DO NOT SMOKE anything so I use edibles or concentrates. MEGACE is as good for appetite as medical marijuana. Please, PLEASE ask doctor for Megace once she finishes marinol. I swear, Megace and/or medical marijuana will have her eating a hoe in the wall, trust me.