A Bo-mentous Day

Mr. Bo, down in North Carolina, is scheduled to have his port removed today. It's a big deal. A friend of mine had one and said she had hers removed as soon as it was permitted so there were no more physical reminders of cancer in her body. Good luck and best wishes to Bo!

From last Thursday, blood counts are good, or still climbing. As a matter of fact, my white counts (the infection fighters) are now in the normal range. Still not allowed to be out and about, but soon, I hope. Platelets had not moved upward much, but the doctor said they were the last thing to move upward in the process. They are still below normal, but significantly higher than they have been in awhile. Overall, the doctor and nurses were very pleased with my progress. If they are pleased, I'm pleased. My next appt. is on September 25 with the Nurse Practitioner for a CBC (complete blood count) review in which they withdraw and examine all of the parts of the blood looking for any problems or progress.

I received a packet from MCV the following day with recommendations for follow up appts. for the next 5 years. Included in their bundle of fun is a bone marrow biopsy every six months for the next three years and then one a year for the remaining two years. If I haven't explained in the past, the point of a bone marrow biopsy is to see if there are any signs of cancer in the bone marrow, which would then feed into the blood system and create havoc in organs, etc. Seriously, and I say this now, compared to the removal of the lines that were in me, the bone marrow biopsy is a walk in the park. Of course, I will have to bribe the person who has done the previous two to stay in her job for the next five years as she does a fantastic job when she does bone marrow biopsies.

There will also be CT and PET scans over that same time period. It was kind of odd to see the year 2014 on the paperwork. Sounds like an excuse to plan another party 5 years from now.