Baldy, and Not So Baldy

Here are the girls at the top of Mt. Baldy this past Saturday. It was a long climb, but the reward was a spectacular view of Ross Valley, including Wade Thomas.

My time in the lounger yesterday flew by—I was able to do some work, and the nurses and other people getting chemo there are always good company.  I asked Martha, one of the nurses, about my hair. If I was going to lose it, it was supposed to happen last week. My question was, if it didn’t come out last week, am I going to be bald or not? Martha’s experience with the two chemo drugs I am on (gemcitabine and carboplatin) is to see more hair thinning than hair loss, probably later in the treatment. So, if I haven’t lost my hair yet, things look promising for keeping it.  Good news, and I’m calling JD now.

Each week on the day before chemo, I get labs done. These tell Dr. Head, among many other things, my white and red blood cell counts, which help her determine whether or not we can continue my chemo at the full dose. Both my white and red blood cell counts are lower, which is as expected as chemo takes both of them out as well as the cancer cells. My white cells however are low enough that Dr. Head was worried about whether we could continue chemo at the full dose. So, to boost my white blood cells, I’m getting a neupogen shot for the four days following chemo this week.

Another thing I learned from Dr. Head is that my tumor is getting softer. This is what you hope for after starting chemo. Dr. Head was very pleased that it was starting to happen after just one cycle, and so am I. Whatever is happening to my white blood cells, is also happening to the cancer cells--that is good news and I'll take it.