Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Chemo Half Done

Well we hit the half way point for chemotherapy treatments today. More about that later.

First lets talk about last week. Bonnie went in to have chemo last week and her sub white blood cell(WBC) count (NEU) was way too low. It needed to be at least 1.5 and it was .1, so they sent us home for her to rest and see no one (too risky to catch something). Her liver blood test result came in 2 days later and it was high again. It is supposed to be between 0-35 but hers has always been in the 70s or 40s, so the doctor wasnt too concerned, saying it must normally be high. But that day it came in at 137, so he thought we should do a CT scan to check out her liver and kidneys and what ever else they could see. Oh it did say she had a small hiatal hernia, but the liver, gallbladder, speen, pancreas, adrenal glands and kidneys are unremarkable in appearance. They know that from the contrasts she had to drink and put in her port.

JaNae took Bonnie to the ghost hospital (LDS) (ghost since the new hospital opened, it is pretty empty), yesterday to get the scan. The results were good, all things checked were ok. That is great news since she was very concerned about her aching kidneys and also very concerned since the liver is the first place to be affected by those free radical cancer cells that escaped from the colon, if they haven't already been zapped.
So we brought her home last week and I put a note on the door that she couldnt see anyone, but they could call. She didnt like that but we couldnt risk it. People were very understanding, thank you. She started feeling a little better by Friday and decided she could attend her neice's baptism and lunch on Saturday. It was her twin brother John's youngest. She/we had a nice time with family.

We also got the genetic results back for the possible inherited colon cancer markers and it was negative. It was stated as "no mutation detected" for MLH1 and MSH2. But they didnt test the MSH6, and we need to find out why. (I know, I give too much detail) but I like detail.

So, back to today. her initial blood tests today were very good. The NEU was at 6.4, wow! So they did the same chemo treatment and she is home with the pump injecting folfox for the next 2 days. We will find out the liver result when she gets the pump removed on Thursday. But even if it is high I doubt they scan it again anytime soon. Then they want to inject (shot, not in her port, ouch) her with Neulasta(sp) to help keep her WBC higher by helping to rebuild it. But I guess it makes the joints ache. Since we are going on vacation to Yellowstone on the 16-23 she would miss her next treatment (just delayed another week). So she is thinking she doesnt need the shot for this week.

We are looking forward to the get away and hope to see some bears and lots of wildlife and even some friends and family.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and concerns and interest and prayers. We sure appreciate it.