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October 11, 2006 , Day -06
Friends,
More than half way through the radiation treatments! It is pretty boring, actually. Sitting perfectly still, staring at a blank wall, listening to the buzz of the accelerator for 20 minutes. The radiation is having an effect though. My white cell count dropped significantly between yesterday and today. I suspect that platelets and the others will follow quickly. I am getting a really dry mouth, probably due to the radiation. I am starting to feel fatigued, but I don't know if that is because of the radiation or because it is late and I need sleep. I guess we shall see. I felt perfectly normal through the day. I took a short but vigorous walk this morning.
On the medical front, we are testing the antibiotic Septra to see if I am allergic to it. I had a rash yesterday from something. The doctors thought it looked like a drug reaction, and the only drug that I was taking that would cause that was the antibiotic. It is the best prophylactic antibiotic they can give me at the moment, and they would like to continue using it. The rash was very mild and went away by the end of the day yesterday. The only other drugs I am taking are Protonixs, an anti-heartburn medicine, and Allopurinol, which inhibits production of uric acid during cell death by the degradation of DNA. Uric acid can cause gout and kidney stones, apparently. Not something I need right now. Gout or kidney stones, that is.
I talked to my doctor about the chimerism test. It is just to see if the blood cells floating around in me are mine or my brothers. This is a bit academic, since I am going to get the transplant anyway. They don't expect to get the results back until at least a week from now.
Lab Results |
Blood Cell Type |
Normal Low |
10/04 |
10/09 |
10/10 |
10/11 |
| WBC |
4.5 |
9.91 |
nr |
7.4 |
5.4 |
| RBC |
4.3 |
3.05 |
nr |
3.21 |
3.00 |
| HGB |
13.9 |
9.9 |
nr |
10.8 |
9.8 |
| PLT |
130 |
228 |
nr |
251 |
221 |
Take care!
Ted
tw@wilcoxent.com
mench@wilcoxent.com
www.wilcoxent.com
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