11/04/2021
Hi Everyone,
Well, that was a week that was… for those of you who have been following along at home, my chemo treatment had been going relatively well since re-starting in February this year. The first 3 cycles had gone well (well being the subjective word when talking about chemo but you get my drift) and I was ready to start my fourth cycle on the 24th March. I was slightly late to start that Thursday but that really didn’t matter as my body, or my blood, had other ideas.
I have a regular blood test the day before starting treatment, that way the Oncologist can check my markers and levels and adjust dosages or prescribed medication based on what comes back from pathology. Well on this occasion my platelet levels (that part of your blood that aids in clotting) were low. Not low enough that I needed to be admitted to hospital in case I bled to death because I sneezed but, low enough to warrant a second draw of blood. Usually my platelet level returns to acceptable levels (above a 100 count according to the oncologist) for me to begin my next cycle but this time I only made it to 70 count. That would be OK if the chemo drugs don’t affect platelets BUT they do and if I started from that low point I would end up going below 50 and that’s when I would be in danger of serious injury. Yes, even a sneeze or a cut finger would be dangerous!
So, in consultation with my oncologist, the oncology nurses sent me on my way home again with another week’s break to look forward to before returning the following Thursday to start again. In the mean time I had a check-in a few days later with my oncologist’s registrar and he let me know what the issue was that lead to the low platelet count. The combination drugs that I take (called Faul Fox) along with Oxy Platin as the drug they ‘push’ before I take home the auto regulated pump with my final dosage for the cycle have a cumulative effect. Over these three cycles I had already completed, the drugs were predominantly being flushed out of my system in the usual manner (drugs and nourishment goes in, waste goes out). But not all the drug is passed through so over the 6 weeks of these previous cycles that accumulation was messing with my levels. The blood test does its job very well by capturing those markers and informing the oncologist what the next form of action should be.
Thanks for visiting 🙂 🙂
CheersMerc