Yesterday's counts:
- Hemoglobin: 11.4
- Platelets: 103,000
- (12.4 and 169,000)
"Those are lower," I replied cautiously when she reported the numbers. "Are they really okay?"
"It's the Vidaza," she reported brightly. "It makes the counts go down and then they come back up. Next week, they'll be back up, you'll see."
I hope so.
Returning to this ritual proved a bit strange, after missing it for what seemed to be quite a while but was really only a week. I guess it's an out-of-sight out-of-mind thing, but driving home I lapsed into rumination on vulnerability and remembering that I actually am supposed to be sick. I hadn't done that at all while traveling.
Perhaps I'm better off traipsing around the country being overfed like a cow being prepared for the stockyards. There, my consciousness is redirected to feeling over-stuffed and fat rather than ill.
Dr. O insisted cheerfully that we'll see higher blood counts next week.
Next week.
That's when I report for the next bone marrow biopsy.
Ah, the things we get to look forward to. Can't wait.
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Hello,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Holly and my dear father in law has recently been diagnosed with MDS. He hasn't started his treatments of Vidaza yet, but will soon. I found your blog when I googled, "can a patient fly on a plane with MDS?" My husband wants to grant his father's lifetime wish and take him to Hawaii. I am going to read the rest of your blog and follow it while my father in law gets started. We all feel lost and somehow today I feel that God has lead me to you. Praying for you in IN.
Holly--
ReplyDeletePosted a response yesterday, but apparently it didn't take.
It's nice to know that some strangers get to this blog, and even find it at least encouraging or, even better, useful. It's also a bit upsetting to learn that anyone must deal with this syndrome.
I understand what you mean when you say you all feel "lost." That's the prevailing sensibility, apparently, that comes with being diagnosed with MDS. I'm only five months into this experience, but I've had a kind of helpless/lost feeling since the diagnosis was announced. If you haven't already done so, you should visit the MDS Foundation web site; it's a bit frightening (when they talk about life expectancy, etc.), but has some useful information, and a terrific list of medical resources.
As to taking your dad-in-law to Hawaii - I say an emphatic "yes!" Of course, your doctor needs to be consulted, but I've been told air travel isn't really an issue. Bring along some Purell, and use it liberally - it's the surfaces you touch more than the air you breathe that present germ issues. And, especially given the MDS, no more than ever, there's no time like the present. Hawaii is spectacular. The hardest decision will be which islands to visit.
Thanks for reading me, and best of luck,
mk