Update & Request for Prayer: February 26, 2010

I have hesitated to post much lately. There has been much going on with my health challenges. The stomach virus of early February took almost three weeks to completely resolve. That, in turn, fouled up my metabolic panel and electrolytes. My doctor said we were very fortunate we managed that infection as an outpatient. After taking prescription potassium, etc. my metabolic panel has improved at last.

I saw the doctor on Wednesday. I had been coughing, had ear pain, and other symptoms for a couple of days. I have been running a temperature since Tuesday. The doctor said I have fluid in my ears and my chest has congestion.Yesterday, I had chest pains throughout the day. Today I had a chest x-ray and it did not reveal any pneumonia.

Most concerning are my CBC results. I didn't report last week when I had a decline in my neutrophil count (after it being normal since I began using the Vitamin B3). I had missed over 50 percent of the doses the week or so before the last CBC due to the stomach virus induced nausea causing it to be impossible to keep all of my medicines down. We were hopeful that it was a minor blip of my ANC and that this week it would recover (as I increased to my previous B3 dose).

Unfortunately, I am neutropenic again this week. We held on the Neupogen until we rechecked the neutrophils today. I do not yet have those results.

My doctor does suspect that I may not be absorbing nutrients - additional testing is in order to determine if this is the cause. I hope that malabsorption is not a new problem, but it would explain why iron, B3 and D3 supplementations are struggling to benefit me.

My platelets dropped by over 20,000 in one week. They are at 70,000 (normal 130,000 to 400,000). As I drove home after my doctor's appointment and acupuncture, my back felt strange. When I got home, Kevin looked and I had a hematoma and my back was bleeding from one of the acupuncture needles. I knew then that my platelets must have declined as I have never had this problem before with acupuncture needles.

Despite two weeks' worth of prescription iron, my hemoglobin is not budging from its new "home" at 9.0 (normal 12-16). No wonder I am tired all of the time .......

The nerve damage in my lower right leg/foot continues to worsen and as soon as I am able, I am to be fitted for a new brace to try out to see if it improves my stability and the loss of muscle control in that leg/foot.

Please pray.