Hurray, hurray the first of May! In the south of France, folks give bouquets of lily-of-the-valley in exchange for a kiss. At St Mary's Hospital, at least for me, the day meant getting a unit of blood just for showing up.
This is the first time I've ever received a blood transfusion. There was talk of the possibility after last week's pre-chemo blood work which noted a serious drop in hemoglobin levels - should be around 130, I was 88. Yesterday the count had dropped to 81. Seems the prolonged chemotherapy (four years worth now, minus a wee brake just over two years ago) has finally caused my bone marrow to produce far fewer red blood cells and platelets than my body requires. As a result, I'm anemic. No wonder I'm so tired all the time! It was felt the injection of some extra blood (yummy looking, like a melted thick dark cherry sundae with too much sauce) would greatly enhance my perky factor. Seems to have helped matters a bit as I'm not quite as tired as when I went into the ACU this am for treatment. However, I was warned the addition of a single unit of blood would only bring the hemoglobin level up by about 10 points, or to about 90. Still low, but an improvement just the same. Could really use a nap, but at least I don't want to sleep standing up!
The blood was administered over a two-hour period. A very slow drip. Since my neutrophils were also compromised this week, I was denied the opportunity to follow up with my usual Day 8 chemo. Have a CT scan scheduled for May 23 so will have a better idea then whether or not the current chemo cocktail is working its magic in spite of constant delays and skipped doses.
On the up side, I could do a heck of a lot worse than be constantly tired!
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