WBCs, and the light at the end of the tunnel

I'm down to my last two big treatments, and I'm starting to see the light at the end of the chemo tunnel. Nevermind surgery and radiation - I'll leave that fun stuff for 2010!

The routine has been this: show up at Kaiser for blood work on Thursday, then return on Friday for my infusion. I get the big chemo treatments every three weeks, with just Herceptin on the off-weeks.

So far, I've felt surprisingly good once the immediate effects of the chemo have worn off. That usually takes about a week. Then I'm kind of back to my old self for two weeks. So all in all, it hasn't been that bad.

Fortunately, my blood work has been normal to this point. Chemo reprograms all fast-growing cells and is particularly unkind to blood cells, so people on chemo are generally prone to anemia (red blood cell deficiency), infection (unimpeded due to white blood cell deficiency) and clotting problems (caused by platelet deficiency). I've been taking a medicine called Neupogen which encourages my body to make white blood cells. Unfortunately it's taken by injection, so I have to poke myself in the belly every day for 7 days after my treatment.

(I'm not new to poking myself in the belly, but at least last time I got a baby for my trouble).

Anyhoo, my white blood cells are officially off the reservation. Yesterday's white blood cell count was below normal and the neutrophils, which are baby white blood cells, are wiped out. Today, my chemo nurse told me that they almost couldn't treat me with Herceptin today, which would have sucked hard because I'm determined to be DONE with chemo by Christmas and am not interested in any delays.

Bonus: Sam has a wicked cold right now. Please, please, please don't let me catch his cold!

So, now we're upgrading to 10 days of sado-masochistic belly sticking after the next cycle. Just so you know, I do this at about 6 am, so feel free to call me and keep me company. I start next Saturday.