Chemo Update

This hasn't been a very good week, chemo-wise. I went to the doctor's on Monday for my blood work and my white blood cell count was too low for chemo -- the lowest it's ever been in the past two years. So I was given two G-CSF shots to boost my white blood cells and sent home. My coughing hasn't improved so my doctor wanted me to have another chest X-Ray, but my blood count was so low, she didn't want me in the hospital around so many sick people. So she said we'd try the next day.

On Tuesday, I went in again for a blood count -- again, too low. Those G-CSF shots that usually do the trick don't seem to be working very well anymore. But I had two more of those shots, plus a chest X-Ray. My doctor looked at the X-Ray and said my lungs have not gotten WORSE, although they haven't gotten any better. She wants me to see a lung specialist, but not while my blood count's so low, so she sent me home to rest for a day before trying again.

So that's where I am now. At home, in bed, mentally cheering on my bone marrow to make more white blood cells. The G-CSF shots have made my legs feel like jelly, so I'm not very steady on my feet. But at least I can still MOVE my legs. I have to stay away from people while my blood count is so low, lest I pick up viruses or bacteria that people with normal immune systems would have no trouble fighting off. So I feel like I'm playing hooky from school. I have errands to run -- the bank, the post office, the immigration office for Josie's new passport, etc. But I'll have to put all that on hold since I'm just supposed to sit and rest.

I also seem to have lost a layer of skin in my mouth -- it's red, raw, and swollen. Not mouth ulcers, which is a common side effect of chemo, but just missing an outer layer of skin. Has this ever happened to any of you?