I have not been well this week, so I have lagged behind with my blog updates. With radiation and its effects on my blood counts, we were aware that my immune system would take further hits to its already fractured status. An infection in my lungs has taken up residence and has worsened all week. I saw my Infectious Disease doctor yesterday and he made yet another antibiotic change and if this infection worsens much more, I know I will be admitted to the hospital for IV medications. I have used oxygen off and on all week and this morning I woke up to my chest rattling and whistling. Having heard about the "death rattles", I was a bit concerned to hear such a ruckus emitting when I exhaled.
This morning, I called my radiation oncologist and he ordered cultures, labs and we decided to go ahead with today's radiation treatment. I actually received all three of this week's treatments. It appears that I am tolerating the lower (25 cGy) dose better than the larger dose(50 cGy) I received the first week. My counts have not bottomed out as drastically with the lower dose, however, we are not seeing the improvements in counts either. All of this is such a delicate balancing act - using enough radiation to kill the leukemic lymphocytes without eliminating my vital neutrophils, T-Cells, platelets and red blood cells. As soon as my counts begin to recover, we strike with the radiation again, knowing the recovered counts will again fall.
A CT Scan earlier this week revealed that after four weeks of treatment, my spleen has not shrunk and remains the same in size. That was disappointing, yet, I still contend that it is too early to label this treatment a success or a failure. The lymph nodes in my neck feel smaller, however, the enlarged lymph nodes in my abdomen and around my aorta and heart were unchanged on the CT Scan.
I will receive some Neupogen injections over the weekend and then on Monday, I will receive my all day IVIG treatment at the cancer center followed by radiation. I had hoped to finish radiation before Christmas but that will not happen. I do not foresee an end to radiation until perhaps late January with Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve being sabotaged by radiation treatments.
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